Abundant Relations
by abstempsty
Summary: An aspiring young May moves to the tropical region of Hoenn and begins her Pokemon journey, but the land has much more in store for her than Gym battles - follow her as she finds unexpected allies in her neighbor Brendan, friend Wally, and even the son of the leader of Devon Co., and battles against the sinister gang Team Aqua. Adaptation of Sapphire/Emerald's storyline
1. Chapter 1 - Littleroot

**A/N: **so here it is ! I've been working on this since… November of last year according to Word, but it wasn't really anything I planned on uploading or going anywhere with and was just a "I love hoenn im such a hoennbaby im going to write about hoenn" sort of thing (I uploaded a few bits of it here and there a while back but eh) And yet boom, Nintendo decides to announce Hoenn remakes, which took me completely off guard because considering the past gens they probably wouldn't have come out until, like, 2016 or something and wow im excited lmao

So really, remake hype has driven me to start touching this up and uploading it.

ANYWAYS, the whole idea here is just to sort of flesh out RSE's Hoenn (between the gameverse and the mangaverse), sort of like how the manga adapts the games but closer to the original story ? (This did sort of require that I spice up a few things to make it more dynamic instead of "trainer wrecks everything in their path and wins lol" but I really only did this here and there - May's aged up a little, Team Aqua's a little less silly, etc.)

(Just to prevent confusion, the protagonist's family in R/S in the games is actually apparently from Olivine City so that'll sort of tie in here and there… Also according to Bulbapedia R/S happens at around the same time/year of RBY? i could be wrong man idk)

Anyways, Pokemon and RSE obviously all belong to Gamefreak/Nintendo and (our great masters) Junichi Masuda, Satoshi Tajiri, and so on !

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Arrival at Littleroot, "A Town That Can't be Shaded Any Hue!"**

_"Now, Lugia! Finish it off! Use Ice Beam!"_

_The legendary Pokémon responded, throwing back each of its enormous wings and lowering its head. There was a roar, and then an impossibly strong blast of wind and ice exploded from its mouth, knocking back its opponent until it crashed into a wall and collapsed onto the ground._

_ "The Pokémon is unable to battle! May of Olivine City is the new Pokemon League Champion!" came the blaring voice of the referee._

_ Joy filled me as I bounded into the stadium, thanking Lugia for battling so well. The entire Indigo Plateau Elite Four approached me, smiling and patting me on the back, though their faces, now that I looked closer, seemed to be shrouded and dark. I looked back to Lugia, who, also, was now nothing more than a silhouette. Suddenly, everything was fading. There was a very distant groaning that sounded almost mechanical, and then some kind of rumbling-_

_Bump._

My cheek met the floor of the truck, and I winced in pain. _That's right… We're on the road. _I pulled myself upwards, looking around. Yup, still the same… I was surrounded by mountains of boxes, not powerful Pokemon and accomplished trainers. _Sigh_.

As if on cue, the truck began breaking, and I flew forwards into a nearby box with a crash.

"Urgh…" I groaned stiffly. "Are we there, yet…?"

After a few more turns, the vehicle finally came to a complete stop. I smiled in anticipation. This must be it…!

Just as I got to my feet, the back door was pulled open. My hand flew upwards in an attempt to shield my eyes from all the sudden light, and as soon as they'd adjusted, I jumped out of the truck and began stretching my aching limbs, all the while taking in my surroundings.

Littleroot Town. It was quaint, just like my dad had described it. Our house – a fairly small one, tucked in with a group of similar-looking homes – sat on a small, grassy knoll, with native Hoenn flowers blooming here and there around it. Further back, almost like a boundary around this section of the town, was a thick wall of coniferous trees colored a bright green (they looked much more friendly than the darker and taller trees native to Johto, I noted.) A breeze blew by, rustling the overgrown grass. It was pleasant. Almost. I huffed, still feeling homesick for Olivine City's cooler, sea-scented breeze, but this was still decent… I supposed.

"May, we're here, honey!" came a voice off to the left, snapping me out of my daze. I turned to find my mom rushing up to me. "Oh, it must be tiring riding with our things in the moving truck. I'm sorry! Anyways, isn't Littleroot nice? "

I sighed halfheartedly. "I guess."

She scoffed, playfully replying, "Oh, don't give me that. Your dad picked this place out for us, so be a little grateful, alright? Anyways, let's head inside and see the house."

I almost objected to heading inside our new home, considering how pretty it was out here, but instead decided to explore the town later.

* * *

We entered the house. It was small, humble, and cozy - much different from our larger place in Olivine, where buildings were built sturdy to withstand the powerful storms. I glanced around the ground floor; most of our stuff was already unpacked, thanks to my dad's Vigoroth which were now marching around the house with more boxes. They were interesting Pokemon – I'd only seen pictures of them before now, pictures my dad had sent me from the many trips he'd made to Hoenn while trying to become an official Gym Leader. One lumbered past me holding a fairly large box as if it were nothing. I was impressed, to say the least.

"Well, isn't this convenient? Now we don't have to worry about carrying all the furniture!" My mom laughed, pouring herself a glass of water - _the kitchen seems operational, at least,_ I thought skeptically, _but I'm not feeling too great about this heat_. "Why don't you head upstairs and check out your room, May?"

Hesitantly, I nodded and hurried up the stairs on the other side of the room. They whined in protest under my bare feet. Everything was... old-fashioned. Or, at least, the house's structure and appliances were. _Don't tell me… Hoenn must be one of those history-loving regions with old technology…!_ I thought in despair. _And I thought _Johto _was behind the times… There's not even a lock on my door…!_ It was a shame. I'd heard all about the new technology that had come around in Hoenn, and how it was far ahead of Kanto and Johto in that sense, but our house definitely said otherwise…

Thankfully, there were no Vigoroth in my room. I wasn't exactly bothered by them, but it would still be overcrowded - there was hardly enough space for the boxes that were crammed in there. Deciding to take the optimistic side, I shrugged, decided that the room was still cozy nonetheless, and plopped down on the bed. _Most of my stuff looks like it's here,_ I thought as my eyes flicked across the walls – a small television, a Gamecube, a pile of assorted books including journals, Pokemon guides, and novels, my PC, and my bed, tucked into the corner next to one of the two windows... That was it. I also noticed a map and a clock, both already posted on my wall. As I got closer, I realized the map was of Hoenn _– of course. Dad must've put it there._

Little sparks of excitement jumped around in my chest as my thoughts turned to the region itself. Hoenn was immense, bigger, even, than Johto, if you counted the large half of it that was all _in _the ocean. I thought back to Olivine City and its frequent rainstorms, along with the massive, ice-cold waves that would crash on the rocks when the weather was bad, and found it hard to imagine that anyone could actually inhabit such a violent environment, never mind enjoy it.

"May! May, come down here, quickly!" came my mom's urgent voice through the doorway, and I straightened in alarm before racing to the bottom of the staircase.

"What is it?!" I called, only to find her comfortably settled in a chair at the kitchen table, eyes trained on the television.

"Petalburg's on TV! Maybe they'll show Dad!" she told me in an excited tone, eyes shining.

I sighed and sauntered over to the TV, but I was too late; it had cut to commercials. My mom pouted. "Well, he was probably on earlier. He's still a pretty new Gym Leader, so he must be getting a lot of attention. Good for him!"

I played with the ends of my hair absently. "I suppose so."

She gazed at me for a minute, trying to figure out what was on my mind to no avail, before grinning. "That's right! Dad's friend, Professor Birch, lives next door! You should head over there and say hi, honey!"

"But… they don't even know who I am," I objected.

"That's the point! He has a son around your age, too, so why not make friends with him?"

There was no arguing with her now, I thought, knowing that behind that cheery smile was the impatience and fury of a thousand Granbulls. I exited our house and made my way over to the one adjacent to it.

* * *

I knocked on the door, taking note of the small plaque reading "BIRCH" to the right of the porch, and stepped right in. "H-hello? This is May, daughter of Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader…? I just moved in next door."

"Oh, hello!" came a cheery voice from the kitchen, and a brown-haired woman a little younger than my mom approached me. "Norman's told us all about you! You know, I think my son is home right now – he was excited about making a new friend, so you should go see him!"

I nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed by the woman's friendliness, and headed for the stairs, noticing a younger boy – too young to be 'around my age', as he was probably ten or eleven, and very short – playing with Pokemon figurines in a chair. I smiled to myself as memories flittered around in my head, and then hurried up to the second floor.

I entered what I assumed to be the younger Birch's room, after knocking a number of times, and nervously looked around. It was empty, and sort of a mess – what you'd expect a teenager's room to look like. There was some sort of item lying in the middle of the mess that was fairly conspicuous, and I made my way towards it.

_Slam!_

I spun around, eyes wide.

"Hey, you! Wait, who are you?!" A boy – older than the one downstairs, and around my height, wearing a weird headband – barged into the room.

"I-uh…" I stuttered, trying to explain myself. "I'm Norman's da-"

"Oh, you're… Dad's friend's kid, right? You guys just moved in next door, I think." He made a questionable expression that I definitely wouldn't call 'excited about making a new friend'.

I was about to introduce myself – again – when he added, "I didn't know you were a chick. Dad – he's Professor Birch, in case you didn't know – said our new neighbor is the kid of a Gym Leader… so… I thought you'd be a guy! Hahaha!"

His tone was cheery, like his mom's, and he didn't seem to mean any harm, but something about him bothered me nonetheless.

"Well, I'm Brendan. Nice to meet you, neighbor!" he held out his hand, grinning widely, and I reluctantly accepted it.

"You, too."

He glanced downward, and in turn, his eyebrows shot up. "Huh? Don't tell me you don't have any Pokemon yet, May!"

The good mood I'd been in was crushed. "I… No, not yet, at least. I mean, I've been around plenty of Pokemon, but I haven't actually _had_ one of my own, n-no…" I prayed he wouldn't ask why – I wasn't in the mood for talking about how overprotective my dad was to some kid whose father clearly let him romp freely.

He kept that cheeky smile on his face, saying, "Well, I can catch you one, if you want!" I was about to turn him down, as politely as I could – my dad would surely have his head on a pike – when suddenly he exclaimed, "Oh, hang on, I forgot my dad asked me to go help him catch some wild Pokemon earlier." Before I knew it, he was at the doorway. "Some other time, alright?"

And then Brendan Birch was gone, leaving me with many unspoken words and a sour taste in my mouth. _It's almost like that guy was _bragging _about being a better trainer than me,_ I thought sarcastically, that proud grin of his flashing in my mind. _No.. I'm probably just imagining it._

With a quick goodbye to Mrs. Birch, I left their house and started back to my own.

"H-hey, miss! Miss trainer!" I stopped and looked around. "Excuse me!" The source of the voice - a very young girl, in a yellow dress - was standing near a large footpath that I assumed lead out of the town, waving her arms and shouting. "Hey!"

I jogged over. "Umm… Can I help you?"

She pointed further down the path to a single tree. "There's some scary Pokemon over there! Can't you hear them?"

Sure enough, I could make out three dark, four-legged creatures, and heard one of them snarling furiously.

"I-I wanna go see what's wrong, but I'm not a trainer and I don't have Pokemon. Could you go check it out for me, miss?" the girl asked, voiced laced with worry. I smiled gingerly and decided not to let her know she was mistaken.

"Sure."

However, only a few steps onto the path, I was regretting my decision. Sure, I was older than the little girl and had play-fought with Pokemon before, but I wasn't actually a _trainer_ and I certainly couldn't fight three rabid canine Pokemon on my own. The growling picked up. I didn't recognize the Pokemon at all, of course – they must've been native to Hoenn. I had no idea whether they'd run away if I tried to stand my ground, or attack.

"H-hey! H-help meee~!" came a pitiful cry from the tree the Pokemon were posted around. My eyes moved upward, and I realized there was a person – a man around my dad's age, I would say, wearing a dirty, white lab coat – clinging to a branch like a frightened Meowth. "Oh, y-you! Over there! Please, help me out here!" he shouted, glancing down at the Pokemon every few seconds.

I took a step forward. One of the wild Pokemon turned to me and snarled, shaking with agitation and lashing its tail back and forth.

The man seemed to notice that I didn't have any Pokemon, and hollered, "M-my bag! There's some Pokeballs in there! Hurry!"

Sure enough, a few feet away, there was a large satchel lying in the grass. I slowly moved towards it as to not agitate the Pokemon further, which was watching my every move with hostile yellow eyes.

I reached for the bag…

And it dashed forward.

"Quick! Send one out, hurry!"

Panicking, I picked one of the three visible Pokeballs in the bag and tossed it before retreating backwards some more. The wild Pokemon paused, momentarily blinded by the light released by the device – and then, standing between it and me, was some sort of orange chicken Pokemon.

_I-it doesn't look very strong_! I thought, sweating.

A few seconds passed, feeling like hours. I became aware of the situation I was in. A _real_ Pokemon battle, not one staged by my dad, not one broadcasted on the television... It was happening. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I shouted, "Attack! Use Scratch!" out of the assumption that the Pokemon had that ability – the only semi-dangerous part of it seemed to be its talons.

The Pokemon responded promptly, running towards the wolf-Pokemon and raking its claws across its face. It wasn't done yet, though; suddenly the wild Pokemon's jaws were tightened around the orange one's side, and I took a deep breath. _Think, May. It doesn't have to looks to know Leer, but maybe…_

"Use… Growl?" I shouted with less confidence than before. To my surprise, the Pokemon let out a cry. It wasn't exactly threatening, but it still worked; the wild Pokemon released it and jumped backwards, shaking a little. "Now, Scratch again, before it recovers…!"

The Pokemon again responded quickly, scratching its foe twice and landing on its feet again. The wild Pokemon hesitated, glancing at its two smaller companions, before they all were fleeing into the thicker part of the woods.

I blinked. _Did… did I just…?_

"Aha, nice job! You won," came the man's voice again, sounding much less wimpy. He climbed down from the tree, and I walked back over to the bag and the Pokemon standing next to it. "Whew… I'd been studying some of the Pokemon on this route when those three came out of nowhere! Scared the daylights out of me, heheh…" he rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. _He should be_, I thought, _what with not fighting back when he had three Pokemon in his bag…_ "Ahaha, well, thanks a bunch for saving me- wait, you're…"

I looked again at the disaster of a lab coat he was wearing, and I realized this must be Professor Birch.

"You're Norman's daughter, of course!" he gathered his bags, calling back the small bird Pokemon standing obediently by my feet. "I'm Professor Birch, Norman's friend! Oh! Let's do the whole formal introduction thing later, back at my lab. My wife's probably going to kill me if I'm late for dinner."

I nodded. "Um, okay. And it was no problem."

We said our goodbyes and he hurried off, limping as he ran. I glanced at the sky; it was getting fairly late, now, and the sun was setting. _I should head back too, I guess._ My eyes betrayed me, however, and moved further down the pathway, into the darkening landscape of trees and ferns. _Dad promised he'd finally let me get a Pokemon and become a trainer, once we got here… There's just a little while longer, now, _I thought with renewed excitement. _It's not Johto, but… I'm sure Hoenn will still be a fun place to explore. _Not being familiar with the region at all – especially the Pokemon – was obviously a downside, but I wouldn't let that keep me from my Pokemon journey. Not even my dad would, if he randomly decided to change his mind. _That feeling I got while battling those wild Pokemon… I'll definitely become a trainer...!_

* * *

_?, Hoenn Region_

_Time: Unknown_

* * *

"Reporting in, sir." It was a young woman's voice, loud, but at the same time level - she must have been a rowdy person, when not around her superiors.

There was a grumble from the other side of the room. "...And the others?"

As if on queue, there was a click behind the two, and the door swung open. "Reporting in, sir!" "Reporting in, sir."

"The latest?"

There was a moment of awkward silence, followed by the shifting of the three subordinates.

One of the males finally broke the silence: "Sir, I checked out a number of museums across the region. The Oceanic Mueseum in Slateport seems like an ideal place to begin. Vehicles pertaining to deep-sea transportation are all planned and built there... Though, it is in the heart of the city, which could be problematic..." It was a thin wisp of a voice, yet held a certain maliciousness behind it that would shatter any questions one might have about how someone of his physique would make the rank of Admin.

The other male continued as soon as the first stopped. His voice was gruffer, deeper, and held weight behind it. "'N I checked back around my home town, up near Fallarbor - sure 'nough, there _is_ a scientist there working on a meteorite of some sort."

"And from what I've read, he's made progress with it recently. It seems like something worth checking out, sir." The girl was sure of herself. She knew she was of use to her boss, and she was proud of that fact. "My intel team's informed me that the Weather Institute has information that's... _more_ than just research on Hoenn's weather patterns. Relating to Pokemon."

"What's next, sir?" came the ruffian's voice again.

The silence returned, and for a moment the only sound was the distant crashing of waves. Then his voice reemerged, emanating a sense of both control and confidence that brought life to the hearts of his dedicated subordinates. "Good. We're getting closer."

A chair wheeled around, and the three stiffened as the eyes of their superior met their own. He let out a satisfied puff of air from his teeth as he grinned. "Soon, we'll have our way. Kyogre... is within our grasp."

* * *

**A/N: **beginnings are always boring. Im so bad at first chapte rs sorr y

It wasn't until I was pretty far into this fic that I learned that people actually apparently don't like first person view that much, which I guess I can understand, but it's too late now ahaha plus I think since the whole story focuses on May it only makes sense that we'd have to be inside her head for it to stay interesting. I-I don't know

Anyways, R/R I guess and thanks for reading uwu

**EDIT** 5/22/14: Changed a few things in the A/N to hopefully shorten it a bit, and fixed a few lines in the first part of the chapter. Also added a sort of epilogue-type of thing to the end of the chapter.


	2. Chapter 2 - Brendan

**A/N:** Chapter 2! Is uhh unfortunatelyasboringaschapter1

I was really at a loss for the title, but according to Bulbapedia ""_Junichi Masuda has stated that Hoenn's name comes from __豊縁__, hōen, meaning "abundant relations"" _so I think I'll stick with it

Just to settle any confusion or whatever, the story is based off RSE but I'm specifically leaning towards Sapphire's (red bandana sort of gives this away since Emerald's designs are green) which means Aqua will probably be the ones showing up more (That doesn't mean Magma and Maxie won't be important though!)

A-also I definitely didn't listen to the soundtrack of the route or battle I was writing while doing this, nope. butiwouldsuggestdoingthatbecauseit'scool

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Journey Begins! Rival Battle with Brendan!**

I dreamed again that night, though this time my own Pokemon were faceless as well as my opponents. The little orange Pokemon had been there, at some point, too, but had evolved into some sort of grotesque, powerful monster later on. Battling wasn't the only thing I'd done, either. I'd rode on the back of a water-type Pokemon, in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight, and actually _enjoyed _it. There was a refreshing, warm breeze, and the water was clear, allowing me to see all kinds of strangely-shaped silhouettes of marine Pokemon below the surface.

_That's just what I _think _Hoenn will be like, based on what my dad told me and what I read in books. I don't know what the region's _really _like… though I guess exploring it will help me find out,_ I'd thought while eating breakfast that morning.

* * *

"Huh…? Oh! You're here, May!" chirped Professor Birch, who had been absorbed in some kind of machine in the corner of his lab. I waved and approached him. "Your dad had told me so much about you! It's a shame he hasn't let you have a Pokemon, yet, though, since you battled so well back there, ahaha! A hot-blooded trainer, just like your old man!"

I gave him a look. "I-I wouldn't really say that much, but thank you, sir-"

"Oh, right." I stopped mid-sentence at his interruption and looked down. He had placed a Pokeball in my hand. I stuttered a bit. "E-err, what is-"

"As a thanks for saving me, I'd like you to have this Torchic, the one you used yesterday," He stated.

My eyes widened and I met the Professor's gaze. _Does this mean…_

With a nod, he added, "If you keep working hard and learning more about Pokemon, I'm sure you make an extraordinary trainer of yourself!"

I blinked. "Did my dad…?"

The Professor's formality broke, and he laughed heartily. "Yup, he's the guy that planned this! Don't tell him I told you, though! You're all approved and what-not to become a trainer, now, kiddo!"

My grip on the Pokeball tightened. "Thank you, Professor…!"

"No problem! Oh, come to think of it, you should go see my kid, Brendan. He's helping me with my studies, and I'm sure he'd be happy to see you!"

_Eh?_

"U-uhh… Sure," I responded, though really, I just wanted to take Torchic and run as fast as I could into that forest pathway, to a Pokemon gym – my dad's, maybe? - _without_ stopping to talk to that showy guy.

With a pat on my shoulder, the professor dismissed me, waving, and added, "Brendan will be able to show you what it really means to be a Pokemon trainer!"

I grimaced as I turned the corner around the side of the lab building. _Yeah, I'm sure he can…_

* * *

Mrs. Birch had excitedly informed me that her son was at a place called Route 103, which was north of an Oldale Town, which was right past Route 101 – the path I had been on the day before. Running straight forward, Torchic by my side, had felt like a good idea, but on the way we'd agitated a good number of wild Pokemon. With much effort, Torchic and I took them down, one after another, and I felt like I was starting to get the hang of battling. I had fought Pokemon battles before, of course, but it had all been directed by and run by my dad - not once had I been lent a Pokemon to go fight wild ones on my own with.

I thought back to the battle with those gray wolf Pokemon; I could hardly be given the credit for that, since using growl to intimidate the other Pokemon and get loose of their grasp was a technique I had stolen from one of my dad's own battles.

"Torchic, Scratch, again!" I called out as a small, navy blue flying-type Pokemon circled around my own. Torchic, however, must have had something else in mind, and spat out a wave of small flames, scorching the bird and sending it flying back into the denser section of the woods for safety.

My eyes widened and I ran over to my Pokemon with a grin. "That was cool, Torchic! It must have been… Ember?!"

The Pokemon chirped in response, gratefully accepting its praise.

We moved onwards, into Oldale Town – which was a little more modern-looking and civilized than the rural Littleroot – and visited the Pokemon Center. Despite looking much different from the one in my hometown, the red-orange roof gave it away. Walking inside, I was impressed, to say the least. It was clean and high-tech, for such an out-of-the-way town. I had especially been entertained by the potted palm plants, and other tropical-looking vegetation, placed around the interior of the building, which you would never see in Johto.

Later, we then moved on to Route 103, searching for Brendan. Sure enough, he was standing at what I assumed to be the end of the route (wearing his bizarre hat, despite the humid weather) near a river, jotting down some notes on a piece of paper and talking to himself.

Before I could call out to him, he noticed me and grinned. "Hey, May! I see Dad gave you a Pokemon."

I gazed down at Torchic. It was pecking absently at the ground. "Yup," I told him. "It's a Torchic."

His grin turned into a sly smile. "Well, we've both got Pokemon now, so how about a battle?"

I looked at Brendan, and then to my seemingly-harmless Torchic. If he was as good I thought he was, there was a fat chance I could beat him.

"Come on," he teased, pulling out a Pokeball, "I'll show you what being a trainer is about!"

"Tch," I nodded at Torchic, and it ran in front of me, trying its hardest to look fierce – which was difficult, for a pint-sized chicken with big, shiny eyes.

Brendan threw his Pokeball, and with the flash of red light came a cute, small, blue Pokemon, with an oversized fin on its head. Needless to say, I was surprised. "_That's _your Pokemon?" I inquired, unable to stop myself from grinning.

"Water gun, Mudkip!" Brendan shouted, ignoring the comment. The Pokemon barked and then shot a blast of water from its little tiny mouth, dousing my Torchic. _Shoot, it _is _a Water-type… I have the disadvantage, then._

"…Torchic! I know the odds are against us, but we can do this!" I called out, and the Pokemon got back to its feet. I'd seen my dad win enough battles with Fighting-type specialists to know that it wasn't impossible to beat Brendan and his Mudkip.

Using Ember – Torchic's newest move – definitely wouldn't be a good strategy, at least when used directly _at _the Water-type. I kept thinking, all the while telling my Pokemon to dodge the deluges coming its way.

"Growl, Mudkip!"

The Pokemon cried, and in turn my Torchic flinched, long enough for the Mudkip to hit it with another blast. I was worried – not just because losing this battle would effectively destroy my pride in the eyes of this Brendan guy, but because Torchic had put so much faith into my strategy, and I was letting it down.

"One more Water Gun, Mudkip! Finish it!" the opposing trainer ordered with a little cheer on the side.

"Torchic, use Ember on the Water Gun!" I called out desperately.

There was a blast of fire, and then the whole battlefield was covered in steam. _Yes!_

"Mudkip, Growl again!" Brendan said. There was a cry from within the cloud.

"Good!" I smiled. "Aim at where that sound came from, Torchic, and use Ember!"

There came another cry from the Mudkip, sounding more like it was in pain. The steam lifted. Mudkip was struggling to stand up, but Torchic was ready for more orders.

I sighed in relief. "Now, Scratch, Torchic!"

In a flash of orange and yellow, the Pokemon was on top of Brendan's, scratching it relentlessly with its talons. I took a quick glance at Brendan, to find him with a sour, frustrated expression.

After a few more moments, Torchic moved away from the now fainted Pokemon, making a proud expression and fluttering its wings. I ran up to it and gave it a hug, genuinely proud of both the Pokemon and myself, and called it back into its Pokeball. "Great job…!"

"Well, you're not too bad, I guess, May," the boy said with a slight smile as he approached me, and I had to give him credit for being a good sport. "I guess I understand why my dad has his eye on you now, with the way your Pokemon practically loves you already. You could probably get along with _any_ Pokemon, really, haha!"

I scratched my head. "Thanks, ahaha… but I don't think I could befriend _every_ Pokemon. That's a little…"

Brendan only shrugged, putting the Pokeball back in his bag. "Well, we better head back to the lab. I'll see you there!"

And off he went, still holding his head high. I followed, Torchic's Pokeball still in my hand, feeling strangely satisfied by the battle.

* * *

"Oh, so you beat Brendan on your first try? That's great! You know, he's been helping me for so long, going and doing field research, so he's got quite a bit of experience already! It's nice, because whenever I go out, I tend to end up in a situation like the one you found me in, and he's there to save me! Yup, Brendan's quite the trainer! And…"

The professor's voice was tuned out by the electric glare Brendan had directed at me. I met it with an equal amount of fierceness. _What, is he upset that he lost or something? Or maybe because he's so much more experienced than me and I still beat him?_

"…Anyways, my point is, take this!"

Another item was shoved into my hand, and I shifted my gaze away from the boy to a small, red electronic device. I flipped it open, revealing a number of buttons and a screen that was not currently turned on.

"...What is it?" I asked.

The Professor pointed at my Pokeball. "Call out your Torchic, and you'll see,"

I was confused by his response, but obeyed. The small Pokemon chirped as I released it, clearly exhausted, as we hadn't had time to stop at the Oldale Pokemon Center on the way back to Littleroot. Suddenly, the device's screen lit up, and an image of the Torchic in front of me appeared on it, along with its name and type.

"_Torchic, the Chick Pokemon. Torchic has a place in its body where it stores its flame. Give it a hug – it will be glowing with warmth. This Pokemon is covered all over with a fluffy coat of down._"

After a moment of hesitation, my face lit up. "Professor Birch, what… is this a…?"

He laughed, and Brendan made a face as well. "It's a Pokedex! That's right! I've been working with a man known as Professor Oak, who just recently released some of his own to trainers like you! It lets you record Pokemon you battle or catch, and also helps me with my own research."

I was at a loss for words. I'd heard about the innovative Pokedex in the news, and on the internet, but never would have imagined that _I'd _get one. And for free! "I- Thank you," I told the two of them. Brendan tilted his head.

"Huh, so Dad gave you one, too. Well, you'll probably need these, then, for our next battle," he told me, emphasizing the whole "next battle" part, and handed me a few Pokeballs. "Hoenn has a lot of cool and diverse Pokemon that I plan on catching, but you can't without Pokeballs, so I recommend you stock up on them!"

_H-he says that like I don't know already… _I thought exasperatedly and nodded my thanks to him.

I left the lab and headed straight for my house. It was well into the afternoon, but despite this I decided I'd head to the next town today and get a head start on Brendan, who'd practically declared himself my rival in our Pokemon "journey."

"I'm back," I called, and my mom promptly ran up to me.

"Oh, that's such a cute Pokemon! Professor Birch gave it to you, right?" she asked while pulling Torchic into a hug (it _did_ seem to glow, now that I looked at it).

"Wha- don't tell me _you_ were in on it, too?!" I gawked, feeling a little betrayed.

She smiled. "Of course! I'm the one who finally convinced your father to let you go, after all! You sure are his child, now that I see you all equipped with Pokemon and Pokeballs and all that stuff."

"Well, I'll definitely train hard and beat Dad's gym," I told her, "and make him regret holding me back from being a trainer all this time."

My mother only chuckled gingerly. "Well, just don't train too hard! Are you planning on leaving today?"

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded.

"Then, you're going to need these Running Shoes! I bought them especially for this day!" she exclaimed, bouncing over to the kitchen table and pulling something out of a box.

I looked at the shoes. They were pretty flashy, but no more trainer-like than the rest of my outfit – and after putting them on, I realized just how much more comfortable they were than my normal sneakers.

* * *

I thanked my mother and ran upstairs, packing a few changes of clothes, all of my savings, and some other things, along with the empty Pokeballs Brendan gave me, into a small bag, and took one last look in the mirror. _You're a few years late to the party, May, but you finally get to go out there and train Pokemon for _real_._ I picked up a red bandana from a shelf, tied it around my rather messy hair, and grinned confidently.

After hurrying back downstairs, I tightened the bag around my waist and approached my mother, who was still playing with Torchic. She handed me a few bags of what I guessed were nutritious vitamin drinks and granola bars (Johto was _so_ particular about health and nature and such) which I stuffed into my already-full bag.

She then handed me my Torchic. "…" She looked crestfallen and stared downwards.

I sighed. "W-what is it, Mom?"

"I'm just so sad my little child is leaving!" she wailed, clinging to me all of the sudden. "To think that you finally have your own Pokemon! Oh, Norman will be so proud of you! Be careful, don't get hurt! If something goes wrong, call that Brendan boy to help you! Make sure you come back here sometimes, too!"

I groaned. "Mom, it's fine. And I don't think I'll need Brendan's help…"

"Waahaaah! I'm sorry, honey, I'm just very concerned about you! Good luck! Go get 'em! Say hi to your dad for me!" she followed me out the door, waving, and I waved back awkwardly as the few townsfolk walking about watched us.

* * *

I stepped onto Route 101 once again. I was amazed that already I was starting my journey, and even more so that my dad had actually finally come around and permitted me to get a Pokemon. I gazed down at the Fire-type that was now pacing around my feet.

"Let's go, Torchic!"

* * *

**A/N: **I actually split this chapter into two parts, the second being Petalburg. Also I never realized how hard it was to write a plain old Pokemon battle, dang.

And sorry about the cheesy anime-ish ending, oh my god. You're not a shounen protag, May.


	3. Chapter 3 - Petalburg

**A/N:** So we're still stuck in introductions, which means this chapter is pretty brief and stuff. But at least there's cute bonding between May and Torchic. We also also get two key characters introduced here …!

(uploaded this waaay later that I planned to, sorry about that! It's been finals week at school and general procrastination and such kept me from editing it hhahaa hh... I'll put 4 up sooner this time !)

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Petalburg Gym? The Boy Named Wally**

After staying the night in Oldale and healing Torchic, I headed over to the Pokemart – which was only just opening, as it was only around 7AM – and stocked up on Potions, knowing from the many books I had read relating to traveling with Pokemon that it was important to have a good stock of medicines at all times. The entrance to Route 102 was on the western end of the town, and thankfully, Oldale wasn't a big place.

Torchic followed me onto the trail, preferring to stay outside its ball, and we gradually fought our way through the route, against both trainers, and wild Pokemon. The area itself was much different from the well-forested Route 101; it was open, with a wooded area splitting the rolling fields into two sections. There was a small pond near the entrance to the route that made me think of Brendan's Mudkip and the type disadvantage I had against him that could be a problem in future battles; he wouldn't fall for the steam strategy twice, I knew, and it had only worked because Route 103 was quiet and there wasn't much of a breeze to blow it away. However, I couldn't exactly catch any Water-types, at least not with a Fire-type and without out a fishing rod.

I settled for training Torchic more, and battled every trainer I found; most of them were kids with Bug-type Pokemon, so we had no trouble.

It was later in the afternoon, near the end of the route, where I could see buildings in the distance, that something interesting happened. From behind me came a ferocious-sounding growl, high-pitched and somewhat familiar. I turned.

"Oh! That's…" I pulled out the ever-so-handy Pokedex I'd been keeping tucked in a pocket and flipped it open.

"_Poochyena, the Bite Pokemon. Poochyena is an omnivore – it will eat anything. A distinguishing feature is how large its fangs are compared to its body. This Pokemon tries to intimidate its foes by making the hair on its tail bristle out._"

I glanced back up, a little less worried now that I knew more about the Pokemon. "A Poochyena, huh? You must be the one from that time, then…"

Torchic looked battle ready, stomping its feet on the ground repeatedly, clearly not intimidated by the wild Pokemon's poofy tail.

Suddenly, the Poochyena charged at Torchic, opening its mouth for a bite, but Torchic was quicker now and jumped out of the way. My Pokemon didn't even need a command at this point in the fight; I watched proudly as it unleashed a blast of embers, knocking the Poochyena over. _Dark type… All the other Pokemon around here have been Normal or Bug,_ I thought for a moment, with my eyes on the Pokedex. I then reached into my bag as Torchic circled around the injured Poochyena, growling, and threw a Pokeball in that direction.

My own Pokemon gawked at me in surprise as the Pokeball shook back and forth.

_Click_!

I blinked. _Wait… so then… it worked?_

I approached the unmoving Pokeball cautiously and picked it up. A grin then spread across my face, and Torchic seemed to pout a little. "It looks like you have a new friend, Torchic," I told it, calling out the previously-hostile Dark-type again. Sure enough, Poochyena reappeared in front of me, sitting obediently. It didn't meet my gaze directly, and was still wagging its tail in agitation, but _I had caught a Pokemon._ I felt like celebrating.

Unfortunately, it was already getting dark out, and I didn't have time to celebrate. I wasn't going to sleep in the Route overnight, and the nearest building could a mile or so away, so I recalled the Poochyena and hurried onwards.

* * *

**ROUTE 102 **

**PETALBURG CITY**

"WHAT?!"

"_Tor?!"_

I stood in front of the sign, using Torchic's Ember as a makeshift flashlight, gawking. _Petalburg?!_ "B-but… Dad can't be the first Gym Leader. I mean, that's not what he told us, or at least not what I remember…"

"_Chic! Torchic!"_ chirped the Pokemon in reply.

"No, Torchic," I told it, "You don't understand! My dad would destroy me if I fought him now! But… if there's a Gym in this town, don't I have to face it, if I'm taking up the challenge…?"

"_Tor, tooor_!" it chirped again, this time more urgently.

"Oh, right," I snorted, "sorry. You can stop using Ember now."

The little flame went out. Torchic was clearly exhausted, so either way, I knew I'd have to go through Petalburg City. If I was forced to face the Gym Leader and have an embarrassing defeat, well, so be it…

* * *

Petalburg itself, I saw as I walked through its heart, was still very rural – Route 102's hills seemed to converge with the city's outskirts, and trees were mixed in among the buildings. Dozens of small bodies of water speckled the landscape, as well, which I assumed were from the heavy rains Hoenn was said to get.

"Oh, hello there, miss!"

"…Huh?" I turned around, finding a man probably a little older than me smiling a _little_ too widely.

"You must be a _rookie_ trainer!" he said in an awfully heroic tone, puffing out his chest. "How about I show you around town?"

"Well, I, uh-" before I could object, he was dragging me towards a lit up blue building – the mart.

The man threw one hand out towards the store. "This is the Pokemon Mart! Here, you can buy all sorts of good stuff for your Pokemon!" he seemed proud of his apparently rare and helpful knowledge.

He then started towing me over to another building. I was still completely shocked. _Is this how Hoenn..-ians… do things here?!_ Torchic was frustrated chirping and flapping its wings in an attempt to scare off the princely boy, to no avail. I wondered to myself if whisking off random female trainers and trying to impress them with his knowledge of Petalburg City was what he did for a living.

"This is the Petalburg Gym, led by Norman, who just recently moved here!" he announced proudly, and then gestured to the sign next to us. "This is a Pokemon Gym sign! As you may expect, it marks where a Pokemon Gym is located in each town!"

I was about to tell him that I _was_ May, Norman's daughter, when he abruptly waved goodbye and marched off. I was dazed for a moment, but shook my head. _Weird... At least Torchic calmed down. _

My eyes moved back up to the Gym; it loomed over me and gave off a foreboding aura.. …_It's pretty late, so I guess I should just come by in the morning,_ I told myself nervously.

I eventually spotted the Pokemon Center's welcoming lights among the other buildings and, Torchic in trail, headed inside.

* * *

Petalburg City was beautiful in the daylight, I realized the following morning. The pools of water glittered under the clear, blue sky, and one could gaze into them to see a mirror-like reflection of themselves, as well as the small wisps of clouds high above that promised another hot, rainless day. Just like with Littleroot and Oldale, there were flowers on either side of the streets, and the Gym, along with most of the houses, had trimmed shrubs surrounding them that were a deep, healthy shade of green.

I stood in front of the gym again, anxiousness bubbling up in my stomach. _What will he think? Will he change his mind once he sees me and tell me to go home and give back Torchic…? No, I can't afford to think things like that._ I stepped up to the doors, which opened automatically, and entered.

"…Huh? Oh! Look who it is." My father turned around to face me, quickly dismissing three younger trainers who had been standing around him.

"Hi, Dad. So this is your Gym?" I asked casually, approaching him.

"Yes," he stated. "I assume you and your mother are all moved in now? I've been busy this whole week, so I couldn't show up."

I nodded. "It's okay… the Vigoroth took care of everything for us."

His eyes flicked down to Torchic, who was pecking absently at the flooring. "And you've got your Pokemon, I see. I'm actually pretty surprised you made it here on your own!"

"Well, Mom wanted me to get Brendan's help, b-but I think I'm perfectly capable..." I told him with a curt nod. I was somewhat insulted at his lack of faith in me. _At least he's not doting… yet._

"Well then, that's great! Maybe you actually will end up being strong trainer someday, like me," he responded, sounding genuinely pleased. "Or even stronger. Are you taking the gym challenge?"

"U-um… Mr. Norman? Excuse me…!" came a quiet voice from behind me. Both my dad and I blinked in surprise and turned to the newcomer, who practically floated towards us. "I… I'm looking to get a Pokemon…"

My father smiled weakly. "Oh, you're, uhh… Wally, right? You live a few houses down?"

The boy nodded. Upon closer look, I noted his rather frail appearance; he was short, shorter than me, pale, and skinny; I guessed his age to be around ten or twelve, especially if he was looking to get his first Pokemon. His fluffy, green hair shifted as he looked downwards, covering one of his eyes. "Yes, I, um… I'm moving to Verdanturf town with some of my relatives, soon, and I thought it would be less lonely if I had a Pokemon, but I d-don't know how to catch Pokemon so I thought I'd come to the Gym Leader for help…"

I felt bad for him. I didn't know a thing about Verdanturf Town, but the boy was definitely sick, and I knew the feeling of not knowing how to approach someone. He looked more interested in the ground than he was at the gym, Gym Leader, and trainer surrounding him.

My dad nodded. "I see, I see. I think my daughter here, May, can help you, then, Wally…!"

I looked up in surprise. _He's entrusting this kid to me?! B-but…_

"Go on and give him a hand, May. Here you go, Wally," he handed him a Pokeball. "I'll let you borrow one of mine; a Zigzagoon!"

The boy's face lit up. "R-really?! Wow! Thank you, Mr. Norman!"

Something twisted inside me, and I followed Wally as he ran out without another word to my dad.

* * *

"So, May I… Er… What's it like, being the Gym Leader's daughter?" he asked as we strolled through Petalburg, like I were some kind of idol.

I glanced down at him, unsure, but tried to keep a positive mood. "Well, I was exposed to Pokemon and battling and such a lot earlier than other people my age, so… it's nice, because now that I'm a trainer I really know what I'm doing."

"Cool…!" Wally said with a smile. "…E-even though I'm really weak physically, my parents were okay with letting me get a Pokemon before I leave, because I don't really have a lot of friends. But… Pokemon are… really cool, and cute, and powerful, and I finally decided that I want to have one of my own."

I frowned, and managed a "W..Well, Wally, don't worry! I'll be your friend, from now on. And I'm sure whatever Pokemon you catch will be happy to be your friend, as well."

He lit up even more. "…Thank you…!"

In little time, we were on Route 103, where Torchic and I watched as Wally ventured into the taller grass and used the Pokemon my dad had lent him – a Zigzagoon – to weaken what my Pokedex recognized as a Ralts.

It still bothered me; why would he lend this kid, who was much younger and less experienced than me, a Pokemon and even let him go _catch _a wild one of his own, but then restrict _me_ from doing anything like that until recently? I let out a sigh through gritted teeth.

But it was hard to stay envious, or angry, or negative at all, around the weak boy. He marched back over to me proudly, a small smile gracing his pale face, holding a secure Pokeball. I congratulated him with a pat to the shoulder and a small smile.

Once back in the gym, my dad greeted us again. "Did everything go okay?" His eyes flicked over at mine for a half-second before moving back to Wally.

"Yes!" Wally chirped, his voice still very quiet despite his excitement. "Thank you very much, Mr. Norman sir, and May…! I-I'll definitely cherish this Ralts! Thank you!"

I watched him hurry out of the gym, telling my father that his mom was waiting for him to come home He held the Pokeball tightly with both hands so as to not drop it.

"Well, then, May," came my father's voice once the boy was gone, sounding alert, and I spun back around.

_Uh-oh… He's not going to challenge me to a battle, is he? Damn, I completely forgot about that!_ I thought in alarm. I mentally slapped my forehead. _What a lousy way to start my journey!_

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you battle me right now," he said with a chuckle.

I sighed in relief.

"You should start in Rustboro, which is through Petalburg Woods to the west, and battle Roxanne, and collect more badges from other leaders... But you'll have to battle me, someday, too, of course!"

I nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Dad. I guess I'll be off, then." An image of my mother flashed through my head as I reached the door, and I turned around. "Make sure you stop by our house, soon, okay?"

"I plan on doing that. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you off, but it has been busy." He shrugged. "Don't you go worrying about her, now."

I huffed, smiling, and, with one last wave, exited the gym.

* * *

Before leaving town, I decided to stop in Wally's house out of curiosity, only to find that he wasn't home. His parents, however, greeted me hospitably, and explained more about Wally's illness.

"He's moving to Verdanturf, mainly, because the air is so much crisper and clearer there," said his mom with a sad look. "It'll help his breathing issues, at least, and if he spends the next few years there, who knows…? He might get healthy again."

I hummed in understanding, though I felt a little guilty, as well. _Here I am, worrying about Pokemon and moving, when this family is…_

"We're just happy he got a Pokemon, though. Thank you!" Wally's dad had told me. "It might not seem like much, since Wally will probably never become an experienced trainer, but… we appreciate it. And he appreciates it."

I laughed. "I-it's no problem, really. I hope he gets better."

Truthfully, the whole experience had been uplifting and I couldn't ignore the little spark of happiness I felt at helping the family.

* * *

After the visit, I carried right onto Route 104 – and, apparently, onto a beach. Torchic and I made our way up a ridge of grass that dropped right into some puffy, cream-colored sand, with sky blue water lapping at the shoreline. It was a quite the view. Torchic, of course, didn't treasure the overlook as much and started off in the other direction.

"I guess you're right, Torchic. There's no time to go swimming, anyways," I told it, and it seemed to agree, nodding vigorously.

We marched onwards, fighting a few aggressive wild Pokemon and registering them in the Pokedex, before stopping near a large cottage. Torchic's stomach let out a weak growl, and a few seconds later, mine did the same.

"_Tor!_" it cooed.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, pulling out one of the granola snacks from my bag and splitting it in two. I plopped down in the grass off the side of the trail, next to the cottage, and gazed at the sky contently, while Torchic pecked at the bar. Across from us was another overlook, though the steep ridge leading up to it looked difficult to climb. The knoll was covered in colorful, blooming flowers, like the ones worn by Bellossoms back in Johto, and I wondered absently if Hoenn even had a winter, being as tropical as it was.

After a few minutes, I called out Poochyena, who I had only used in a few battles and who was still particularly unfriendly towards me, and held out my hand that held the rest of the granola bar I was eating in it.

The Pokemon growled in response to the gesture, lashing its tail back and forth.

"Geez, it's just food. You're my Pokemon, now; I'm not going to try and hurt you."

It watched me carefully with those yellow-and-red eyes, and for a second I was afraid it would bite off my entire hand. Torchic observed warily, wings twitching.

And then, to my surprise, Poochyena carefully took the bar from my hand in its maw and retreated a few yards away, before curling up in a ball and eating.

I sat there for a moment, genuinely taken aback, before snickering with Torchic. _Pokemon sure are interesting._

* * *

**A/N:** Now that all the introductions are out of the way, we get Petalburg Woods and Devon and the beginning of Aqua's involvement, hoorah.

I'm planning on having Wally be a little more important in this than he was in the game and serve as one of May's closest friends, but we also don't see him again for a little while ;_;

Also, if you've read Pokespe/Adventures, I think you might realize that Norman isn't going to be as happy/go-lucky and "im so proud of u may (sniffle)" for much longer lmao


	4. Chapter 4 - Shroomish

**A/N: **So, here's Petalburg Woods and the first encounter with Aqua.

Honestly, Petalburg Woods was probably one of the least memorable forest-places in the main series games. Even with the super early villain-team battle there's no special place in it like in Eterna or whatever. Maybe they'll add extra stuff in remakes tho

In case I haven't mentioned this (or it wasn't obvious) I'm not writing out _every_ battle, especially wild ones, but that's not to say protag isn't battling off-screen or whatever.

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The Shroomish Fanatic! An Act of Heroism**

"Here we are, Torchic," I said to my partner. "Petalburg Woods."

"_Tor_."

Around us stretched a thick wall of vegetation, blocking out most of the sunlight, though it did flitter in here and there. The sound of the ocean was now very distant, muffled by the forest and replaced by the occasional rustling of leaves. Even so, it wasn't nearly as dark and menacing as Ilex Forest in Johto. _No problem. Plus, I've got a Fire-type with me, _I thought confidently, marching forward.

There were more than a few wild Pokemon in the forest, though most of them weren't as aggressive as the ones on Routes 102 and 104. I took note of the abundance of white, cocoon-like Pokemon peering at me from the shadows and hidden in branches far above me, and eventually pulled out my Pokedex to scan one.

"Just what are these Pokemon…?" I murmured to myself, pointing it at a particular group of them tucked between two massive branches of a nearby tree.

"_Wurmple, the Worm Pokemon. Wurmple is targeted by Swellow as prey. This Pokemon will try to resist by pointing the spikes on its rear at the attacking predator. It will weaken the foe by leaking poison from the spikes."_

I took a step back. "Whoa, okay. Poison? We aren't fighting that guy, Torchic, not with all of his friends, around, too."

The Pokemon nodded in agreement.

"_Silcoon, the Cocoon Pokemon, and the evolved form of Wurmple. Silcoon was thought to endure hunger and not consume anything before its evolution. However, it is now thought that this Pokemon slakes its thirst by drinking rainwater that collects on its silk."_

_I see… _I thought. _Then, if Silcoon is the one with the spikes coming out of it, then the smoother one must be…_

"_Cascoon, the Cocoon Pokemon, and the evolved form of Wurmple. If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless however badly it may be hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution. This Pokemon will also not forget the pain it endured."_

I smiled. "That guy is pretty hardcore, huh? Well, I think we should keep moving..." Pulling out a small journal, I jotted down a few notes: _Wurmple line – gather in large groups in Petalburg Forest. Not aggressive._ Yeah, Birch would appreciate that, I told myself.

"_Chic."_ The Pokemon chirped.

* * *

There were plenty of other clusters of the Bug-type Pokemon as we continued exploring the woods, but not many trainers, aside from one Bug Catcher fought near the entrance. And furthermore, there was no sign of an exit or any nearby route. The tropical mix of trees had me interested at first, but now, it was getting to be a nuisance, as backtracking was nearly impossible. I sighed, a little worried; we'd spent a lot of time on Route 104, assuming Petalburg Woods would just be a walk in the park, but at this pace… _We might not even make it out of the woods before it gets dark, _I thought, shivering at the thought of sleeping in a tree full of the poisonous Pokemon. If it were any other Pokemon-inhabited area, sure, but Bug-types…

"_Torchic!_" the Pokemon announced, bristling with agitation. It nudged my leg, and I pulled myself from my thoughts. Just a few yards ahead was some strange man in a green business suit, looking a bit too formal to be a backpacker and a bit too old to be a beginner trainer. I would have easily mistaken him as part of the natural backdrop of the forest, had it not been for his bright skin and red-orange hair. _Is he looking for something?_ I thought as I observed the man. He squatted down and began sifting through a patch of some enormous ferns, humming absently to himself.

I was about to ignore him and carry on when the wind shifted, rustling some of the leaves against my feet, and the businessman swung around, surprised.

"Oh, hello there, Trainer!" he exclaimed and approached me.

"U-um… Hi…" I greeted apprehensively.

He glanced around again, green eyes flitting beyond me and up into the branches above. "I am looking for a Pokemon called Shroomish! Have you seen any? I am very passionate about Shroomish, you see."

_Okay, _I thought. _So he's passionate about Shroomish. _"I… I haven't, I'm sorry. All I've seen are these angry-looking Bug-types."

He sighed. "Oh, what a bother. Well, thank you anyways, trainer, I-"

"_Chic!"_ Torchic cried again, louder, taking a step forward and glaring at something in the undergrowth behind the man. The two of us looked down at the Pokemon, confused.

"What is it, Torchic…? I said. "The guy is right here." _And he's not dangerous, or anything._

"_TOR!"_ The Pokemon began jumping in place and tugging at my shorts with its beak.

Suddenly, there was a rustling behind the Shroomish man, and a flash of blue. My eyes widened in understanding, and I took a step back, yelling, "Look out!"

The man gasped and stumbled over to the left just in time to avoid a large, meaty fist making contact with the back of his head. The attacker skidded to a stop in front of me and glared at his target while breathing ruggedly.

"What a pain! I meant to ambush you and get the job done back there, but instead you had t' wander right into Petalburg Woods!" came a deep, rough voice from the pursuer. I stared him down. Torchic was still kneading the ground at my side with its feet.

The newcomer was not exactly friendly-looking. He was huge, first of all, wearing a tight, striped t-shirt that revealed some _terrifying_ biceps, and a blue bandana was tied tightly around his head of messy chestnut-brown hair. He also wore a pair of cargo pants in a matching color, and both of his gloved hands were balled in angry, impatient fists. He stood out starkly in the calm, natural setting of Petalburg Woods, and it was obvious that lying back in a spongy patch of moss wasn't his ideal way of relieving stress.

I did _not_ get a good vibe from this man, to say the least. My stomach twisted. _All part of another day for a trainer… right? Maybe he's just an undercover police officer and Shroomish guy's a criminal, o-or he could be an oversized teenager and Shroomish guy is his dad and they're having a fight… N-no, wait, that's not normal, either!_

Before I could even collect myself, the thug man charged at the businessman, taking his collar in his fists and shoving him against a tree. "I'm tired of sitting around! Give me the damn papers, Devon!" His voice was powerful and shattered what was left of the serene atmosphere of the forest. The twisting in my stomach became more violent. He started shaking the Shroomish man and repeated himself once more.

I stood there, petrified by fear, until the helpless man's eyes met mine. They no longer held the innocent curiosity of a Pokemon fanatic; unshed tears caused the green orbs to shine in the waning sunlight, and he almost resembled that of a Stantler caught in headlights. "Y-you there, help me out, p-please! You're a Pokemon Trainer, right?!"

Torchic squawked again, reminding me that I wasn't alone in this. I lowered my eyebrows and frowned, waiting for the aggressive man to notice me.

"Huh?" he followed the businessman's eyes and met my gaze. "Are you kidding me? You think _you're _gonna save this guy?"

"Please, let him go," I stated coldly. Unfortunately, the difference in our voice's levels was like a Pidgey to a Granbull, and my lack of confidence was obvious.

He only grinned as he turned to face me. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, kid." The businessman was then dropped unceremoniously to the forest floor. "But if you really wanna mess with Team Aqua, then let's go!"

In a moment, a Poochyena was standing in front of its trainer, baring its ivory fangs. I contemplated sending out my own, but Torchic seemed to disagree, as it stepped up in front of me and chirped.

"Bite! Go!" the man shouted. His Pokemon flung itself forward.

"Dodge, Torchic!" I called, but his Pokemon was too fast; Torchic cried out in pain as the Poochyena closed its teeth around it and tossed it to the side. Already, the battle was faintly reminding me of the incident on Route 101.

I gritted my teeth as the man then called out for his Pokemon to use tackle. Torchic was still struggling to get to its feet - all the battling we had done earlier in the woods had tired the poor thing out. At the last minute, I told it to use Growl, and thankfully the attack weakened the force of the Poochyena's impact, though only a little – Torchic was sent even further still into the bushes.

"Ha ha ha! A weak Pokemon for a weak trainer!" The man's Poochyena then turned towards me, baring its teeth again, thinking Torchic was done for…

"Now, Ember!"

Flames flew towards the back of the Poochyena and scorched it, amplified by my Pokemon's ability, Blaze, which I'd learned about after inspecting its Pokedex entry again in Petalburg. The little canine Pokemon began running around in circles, yelping in pain.

"Good, Torchic, on your feet! Use Focus Energy!"

The Pokemon, though damaged, braced itself as the Poochyena continued bouncing about.

"You stupid thing, get a hold of yourself! Use Bite again!"

After another moment, the Pokemon shook furiously and cast a deadly glare towards Torchic. "_'Ynaahh!_" It charged forwards at full speed, opening its mouth, getting closer and closer… and then…!

"Ember again, Torchic! At point blank!"

The opposing man's eyes widened, making him resemble his own nasty little Pokemon.

Flames erupted from Torchic's beak once more, right into the furious face and snapping jaw of the Poochyena. It cried in agony, obviously burned badly, before collapsing in a pile of leaves, unconscious.

There was a brief moment of silence as the man stood with an expression of frustration, before he called back his Pokemon.

"…Tch! I'll give you a break today, kid, but if you get in Team Aqua's business again, you're done!" he grinned. "…Besides, we've got an operation goin' on in Rustboro as we speak, so it looks like it's a win-win for us, anyways!"

He then ran off, head held high, fading into the shadows provided by the thick canopy. I sighed in relief. My gut loosened a bit, and once again, the quiet, natural atmosphere of the forest returned. A small breeze blew my bangs away from my face, and I brought one hand up to wipe the sweat from my brow.

"Wow, that was pretty close!" The businessman said. He was finally on his feet again, and rushed over to me with a grateful look. "I come out here every day after work looking for Shroomish, you see, and no one's ever followed me into the woods before… If you weren't here, then… Then he would have got his hands on these important Devon Corporation documents…"

I rubbed the back of my head. "I-it was nothing. I've fought worse." _Okay, May, that was a lie._

The man gave a small bow of his head before continuing. "…Oh! He just mentioned Rustboro, didn't he?" His look of relief was replaced by an urgent expression. "I have to hurry and tell the President! Thank you again, Trainer!" He placed a Pokeball – no, once I got a better look, it was a Great Ball - in my hand and hurried off in the same direction as the Team Aqua member, large briefcase in tow.

I hadn't an inkling of what had just conspired. Devon? Rustboro? That was the city north of here, right…? With the Gym Leader I was to, according to my dad, supposed to face: Roxanne. It would be too bad if some kind of gang – or whatever that 'Team Aqua' the guy mentioned was – ended up causing trouble there and making the Gym Leader unavailable to challenges. I looked down at Torchic, who was in bad shape, and recalled it into its ball before moving on through the woods, the whole ordeal replaying through my head again and again.

* * *

It was dark by the time I finally reached the exit of Petalburg Woods, and the sound of distant voices was replaced by the chirps of crickets and cicadas, but fortunately, the sky was still clear. The trees suddenly opened up to reveal an expansive landscape of rolling hills and ponds, glowing beautifully under the moonlight. I felt awfully alone, nonetheless, and wondered how my parents were doing.

_Fwip!_

Something hit my cheek. I flinched, narrowed my eyes, and brought my hand to my face.

_Fwip! Fwip!_

"Ow!" I exclaimed as two more objects hit my head I turned to find some kid shooting seeds out of his mouth at me.

"Hiya! I like filling my mouth with seed, then spitting them out fast!"

I glared at him and scoffed. "Okay."

The weird seed kid gave me a TM for Bullet Seed – which was fairly useless, I thought to myself, considering I didn't have any Grass-types on my team, but nonetheless nice of him – and went on about spitting out seeds for a bit before walking off into the woods. I sighed. _Hoenn is weird. Hoenn is so weird…_

There was a building nestled in between a few trees next to the large lake that stretched off to the right, and the lights were still on; as I approached it, and read the sign telling me it was some kind of berry store, I noticed that it was surrounded by all sorts of small flowers – most of which were closed up, because the sun had gone down – as well as edged plots of mulch where berries could be planted. I was too hesitant to go picking the fully grown ones, even though I read that Hoenn was known for its abundance of berries, because I wasn't sure if they were property, or something. _I don't want a repeat of what happened that one time, on Route 39,_ I thought with a shiver. I'd been out exploring, like any other day, and took an apricot from someone's apricot tree, only to have the owner come chasing after me and, later that day, I earned a scolding from my dad.

Out of curiosity, I entered the building. The people inside were very friendly, giving me a variety of berries after learning I was a fairly new trainer and telling me about Hoenn's berry culture. A younger girl gave me a watering pail shaped like a Wailmer, and mentioned something inspiring about how berries would jump back out of the soil even if they dried out as if they had the will to live. I had half a mind to ask them if I could stay the night there, but decided against it, due partly to shyness and partly to the fact that I knew I should start getting used to camping out.

I waved goodbye to them, saying another thank-you, and left the shop. The moon was high in the sky, now, and though it was only half-full, I could still see a good distance ahead of me. Hoenn and Johto were similar, I noticed, in that they hardly had any man-made lighting on any of their routes… I'd seen pictures of faraway regions where traveling trainers would have the help of street lamps while exploring at night. I gazed at the moon, and decided I preferred Hoenn and Johto's conditions. Natural light was perfectly fine.

After a few minutes of exploring, I picked out a group of trees on the water's edge and set down my bags, pulling out a small and light sleeping bag – with the warm climate of Hoenn, I assumed you probably didn't even _need_ covers at all – and settled in, calling out both of my Pokemon. I then took out two Potions and tried my best to patch them up. Rest would surely help heal Torchic's wounds, but not entirely – I wasn't sure how far away Rustboro City, and the Pokemon Center, was, so I expected the worst.

Poochyena, though not nearly as badly wounded, was pacing back and forth around the tree. _It must be hungry, _I thought to myself, so I pulled out three more granola bars and one of the berries I'd been given for a quick midnight snack.

After my Pokemon were all tended to, I rested my head on my bag, gazing up at the leaves shaking softly in the breeze. Both of my Pokemon – that's right, Poochyena, as well – curled up on either side of me and fell right asleep. I smiled a little. This wasn't _that _bad. The lake in front of me was gorgeous, and shared the same stillness of the ponds in Petalburg City, holding the moon and remnants of rainless clouds captive inside its dark waters.

"As long as there's no Bug-types, I guess it'll be alright…" I murmured as I drifted off into a slumber.

* * *

**A/N:** Woohoo, Team Aqua!

I like to imagine that the grunts/lower-ranked members are sort of brutish. They wear fricking pirate outfits. I'll try to retain the silliness/stupidity that the Aqua/Magma thing had in the games, but at the same time I'm gonna deepen it some. Basically, both Maxie and Archie (as you'll see later) have that goal about water and land and whatever, and reasons behind it, so they aren't just idiots that gathered a bunch of thugs together and caused chaos… They're activist groups, (again, this shows up later) and the grunts all share the same ideology as their leaders, but a lot of them don't understand the weight it carries and that Archie is actually serious about his goal.

So, on that, I also like to imagine that a majority of the Aqua grunts are pretty young (15-30) and come from different backgrounds. I'm not sure if I'll include the whole "poor treatment of Pokemon thing" because Magma/Aqua aren't really notorious for that in the game like Rocket is, they just kind of do their thing and focus on stealing stuff. So I guess you could say Aqua's a 50/50 mix of really smart anarchists educated in ecology, and a bunch of goons who don't know what they're doing, like the one May fights here.

This is getting really long so I'll just talk about Aqua more in another chapter when they're relevant again (whenever we get to Slateport and May delivers the goods). But it's just a psa I guess, since I'm going to make them a little more detailed than they were in the game.

Anyways, next chapter's the Rustboro Gym, and we get to see our ~courageous protag~ take on literally the hardest gym leader in the game if you started with Torchic lmao

also a feature of my horribleness at writing battles


	5. Chapter 5 - VS Roxanne! Rustboro City

**A/N: **Whew, this chapter was longer and took a lot of editing. Pokemon battles are difficult to write and I'm mainly just afraid this one's so boring that people'll just skip past it. (I've done this before orz)

Here's May's Gym battle with Roxanne! If you started with Torchic, you probably know how hard this fight can be if you're underleveled or if you didn't catch Wingull or Marill or something.

Cheers for sticking around and to those who've given reviews, thanks! If anyone has any suggestions/comments or something they think I should stick in the story, feel free to point it out in a review and I'll consider it uvu

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Rustboro City! VS. Roxanne, **_**"The Rock-Loving Honors Student!"**_

"Alright, everyone! Let's head to Rustboro City!" I shouted, stretching my arms and legs. "Wow, I've never really been a morning person until my Pokemon journey. That's what I call maturing."

Torchic glared at me from its ball-like position beneath my sleeping bag and chirped in objection.

I laughed. "Well, that one day in Pokemon Center doesn't count. I was up late that night."

"_Chic,_" it turned the other way and spat out a puff of smoke.

After some encouragement to the Fire-type to keep walking, I called Poochyena back into its Pokeball and began walking alongside the lake. I could spot where the path picked up on the other side – a long, wooden boardwalk served as a sort of bridge across the lake, connecting the Route's main trail. Torchic kept objecting as it walked, but refused to go into its ball, for whatever reason; perhaps it was afraid of Team Aqua coming back for revenge…?

"You know, the more you object, the slower we're going to get to Rustboro, where the Pokemon Center is," I told it. Clearly Potions could only do so much for a Pokemon's energy.

On the way, I battled a few trainers using Poochyena, and registered Shroomish and Seedot in my Pokedex. I also was more or less forced to teach myself how to Double Battle, having been challenged by a two little twins. There was also a fisherman who claimed to be a Water-type expert, which worried me a bit at first, but it turned out his only Pokemon were Magikarp – a nice throwback to Johto and Kanto, where they were _very_ common.

I paused at some point on the board and looked back the way I came. _Petalburg City is already so far away, _I thought to myself – the dark treeline that bordered the woods of the same name was now practically out of sight, concealed by a dozen grassy hills. Despite the observation, I didn't feel half as alone as I did the previous night. _It's probably just the weather, _I thought. _It's hard to be negative in this beautiful sunshine…_

A breeze had picked up and was stirring the sky-blue water, which sat otherwise still just below my feet. I squatted down at the edge of the boardwalk, all of the sudden, and splashed some of it on my face, realizing from my reflection that I really wasn't all that well groomed and was having one hell of a hair day.

Torchic eyed me meticulously as I attempted to fix my wild hair, before glancing down at its own reflection and trying to reach up to the small puff of yellow feathers atop its head.

* * *

The hours rolled onward as Torchic and I made our way across the rest of Route 104. Once off of the boardwalk, it wasn't long before the unpaved natural trail became white brick and pavement roads, and buildings shot out of the ground all around me, seemingly touching the bottoms of the accumulating clouds.

I craned my neck upwards as we continued into the inner area of the city. "Whoa!" I muttered to myself. "So this is Rustboro City, then! …It reminds me of Goldenrod, a bit…"

Torchic squawked.

"Oh, right," I said, picking it up in my arms. "Pokemon Center first."

We rested in the building for a few hours, and ate a proper meal, before heading back out into the bustling city. The nurse that had cared for Torchic gave me directions to the city's Gym – it was, apparently, not too far from Rustboro's central school.

It was strange to have such a significant change in scenery, but nice, at the same time, I'd thought to myself. Torchic kept up with me as I explored, and all the while I subconsciously kept an eye out of the Team Aqua man, praying he wouldn't show up.

_Should I… tell the police, or something…?_ I thought. _…No, he probably was one guy… I bet the Devon Corporation man stopped him…_

After around an hour I concluded that I was once again lost. I stopped in one of the many stores to inquire as to where the gym was, and was told it was located near the northern end of the city; unfortunately, the tidbit didn't help at all. Another man, after I told him I was looking to challenge the gym, gave me an HM for the move Cut, which I accepted with much gratitude (it would have helped out more in Petalburg Woods more, though!)

Overall, the city was amazing; there was a mix of old buildings, and newer, more modern ones. The Cutter – who had given me the HM – informed me that a good portion of the city had been built recently. I took the day off to find my way around, gradually moving towards the Gym at the northern exit. Near the center was a massive brick building with unbelievable architecture and a sign outside labeling it as the 'Devon Corporations Headquarters'. I thought back to the man in the woods; he worked for _this _company? They sure did look important. I later learned from talking to an older man in a different building that Devon had originally been a tiny business before growing into the monster corporation that it was today. _Geez,_ _Hoenn is definitely less rural, than Johto, then,_ I mused to myself as I walked.

We eventually found the Pokemon Gym – right across the street from the school, as the nurse had said – but Torchic still looked tired and I had decided I wanted to train my current Pokemon more before battling Roxanne, so I left without even going in and headed back to the Pokemon Center.

* * *

The next day, Torchic was feeling better, so I hiked back out to Route 104 and battled a few Pokemon. After so many fights, I'd established that the only Pokemon to appear on land on this Route were Zigzagoon, Tailow, Poochyena, Marill, and Wurmple (all of which I'd already registered); however, this was proven wrong when I came face-to-face with a new Pokemon I recognized as Wingull. I had spotted them before, but they were always far off in the distance, flying, or bobbing up and down on the peaks of waves in the ocean.

So, naturally, I decided to catch one, despite the Water type not holding any particularly important spot in my heart. After weakening it with Poochyena, I threw the Great Ball given to me by the Devon researcher.

_Click!_

My mouth curved into a small smile, and both Poochyena and I ran up to the ball.

"Alright, we've got another one, Poochyena!" I said happily.

It growled and turned the other way indignantly. I scoffed.

For the most part, I felt ready for the Gym Battle. With three Pokemon on my side, the odds appeared to be in my favor. Torchic, especially, was fired up for the battle, and I knew that it would need its energy. _I can only hope I don't mess up horribly – or that I haven't been doing something wrong this whole time – and lose, _I thought with a frown. _I need to prove Dad wrong… I need him to realize how wrong he was about holding me back…!_

* * *

The sun was setting once again, and I realized in annoyance that I'd spent too much time dawdling around. It was still around a twenty minute walk back into the heart of Rustboro alone.

I turned to my team of three Pokemon, who were all wolfing down their dinner of Pokemon food and berries.

"Tomorrow's the big day, you three. Give it your all!"

Each of them chirped in acknowledgement before going back to eating. New confidence flamed up inside me. Torchic really was looking a lot better, and Poochyena was practically caught up to it in experience. I _knew_ we could win this.

A blast of cool air conditioning practically sent me falling backwards as I stepped inside the large building that was the Rustboro City Gym, trying to remember everything I knew about Pokemon Gyms, besides the fact that my dad himself was a Leader. _Let's see… Well, first of all, Jasmine's family owned the Olivine City Gym… _I reminded myself. _There's eight of them in a region, and sometimes there's an order you should follow, but some trainers just go at their own pace… Yeah, I remember now. _Memories of sitting in front of the TV every week night, watching a certain TV drama about a young boy taking up the Johto gym challenge – along with the news channels, which had all sorts of information about gyms – came back to me. _So, this will most likely be a 3-on-3 battle, right? I can't expect Roxanne to go easy on me, even if I don't have any badges yet… I wonder… what type is she, anyways…? The sign didn't say…_

"Yo! Are you thinking of challenging this Gym?"

My attention turned to an older man, dressed in a simple pair of khakis and a polo shirt with a label reading "RUSTBORO GYM." He was wandering towards me.

"Oh!" I grabbed a Pokeball. "Are you one of the Trainers?"

He chuckled. "No, no! But I can help you out with the Gym challenge! You gotta know the type Roxanne specializes in, right?"

I blinked in surprise. "Um, no, I actually didn't check."

He laughed easily, tucking his hands into his pockets. "She's a Rock-type trainer, of course!"

_What?!_

"That means Fire-type moves, Normal-type moves, and a number of other types aren't very effective against her. But Water-type moves and Grass-type moves are."

Panic shot through me. I'd been planning to rely on Torchic for most of the battle, and maybe Poochyena… but now they both had the disadvantage…! _Even with all that training, how will we ever get through this one…?!_

"Anyways, I'm rooting for you, Trainer!" he told me with a grin and a little cheer, which didn't even scratch the aura of the shield of negativity that had begun orbiting around me. I was pushed past the entrance and into the inner room of the gym. "Go for it!"

It was weird to see a middle-aged man that looked like some kind of janitor serve as a cheerleader in a Pokemon Gym.

* * *

The first battle was rough on us; the only Pokemon that the kid trainer had was a Geodude, but between that trainer and the second trainer, who had three, we took a number. There was no blow to my confidence, however, or Torchic', who was stamping at the ground next to me and breathing out little puffs of smoke as the third trainer stepped forward.

"Hello!" came a booming, but feminine, voice. A young trainer stepped forward, holding a neutral expression, with long, tame, brown hair. She wore what looked like a school uniform.

_Huh? This is the gym, isn't it? The school is…_

"Welcome to the Rustboro City Gym! I am its leader, Roxanne."

I gawked. "What… _You're_ the leader?!" _She's younger than me! _I bit back the comment. _How in the world…_

She seemed unfazed. "_Yes_, I am the Gym Leader here. I studied at the Rustboro Pokemon Trainer's School and was the top student, and am _fully_ qualified for the position."

Sobering, I responded, "I'm May. I'm here to challenge you, and gain my first Hoenn Gym badge."

Roxanne nodded in understanding, a slight smile appearing on her face. "Well then, I suppose you know the rules already? We'll each use three Pokemon. Please, demonstrate to me the tactics and Pokemon that you would use in battle!"

The referee – who was one of the two kids I'd just beat in a battle – called out the rules and terms of the battle. Then Roxanne was hurling a Pokeball onto the uneven cobblestone flooring, and there was a flash of light. I stepped back, covering my eyes.

"_Dude!_"

…And in front of me sat a small Geodude.

I raised my eyebrows and pulled out the Pokedex. _Geodude! It only figures that they'd be here in Hoenn, too, right…?_

"_Geodude, the Rock Pokemon. When Geodude sleeps deeply, it buries itself halfway into the ground. It will not awaken even if hikers step on it unwittingly. In the morning, this Pokemon rolls downhill in search of food."_

As soon as the Pokedex finished scanning Geodude, I flipped it closed and threw out Torchic's Pokeball. I'd had good luck with the Pokemon in tough situations in the past – _Geodude shouldn't be too much of a challenge… Even if you are at a disadvantage, Torchic…!_

"_Tor_!"

Roxanne's eyes flashed, almost as though she were interested. "You have the first move, Trainer May."

"Okay, then," I replied, and then commanded, "Ember, Torchic!"

The Pokemon blew out its signature spray of flames. I didn't have much of a plan, at this point – I just wanted to test the opponent Pokemon's strength.

"Harden, Geodude!"

The enemy responded, its rocky exterior hardening. Torchic's flames simply brushed past the surface, hardly doing anything, and disintegrated into smoke.

"_Dude!"_

I gritted my teeth; this is what I was afraid of happening. I was outmatched, and hadn't even realized it beforehand. In Olivine, our family friend, Jasmine, trained Rock-type Pokemon, and I'd seen enough fights between her and her family members to know that her Onix could have withstanded even the strongest Fire Blast. Geodude appeared to be similar in that way.

"…Try a Scratch, Torchic!" I called out, taking a different approach. "Charge at it, before it can use Harden again!"

Torchic ran towards Geodude, still full of energy, and brought its talons down, and… and…

It still had hardly any effect.

_Gah, damn it!_

"Now, Geodude! Strike back! Rock Tomb!" Roxanne shouted, still not losing her cool, yet serious, air.

Everything happened so quickly; rocks were soaring across the battlefield, churning up an enormous cloud of dust and dirt' some slammed into the ground and some crashed against another, and after a few disorienting seconds, the entire battlefield looked like the site of a meteor shower. I swallowed, waiting for the dust to clear. _There's no way that could have…_

A tiny silhouette sat still among the boulders, and I kept my eyes on it, though they were watering due to the dust. _It can't be… it can't be… not yet…!?_

The dust cleared the rest of the way; my Pokemon was lying defeated on the ground.

I frowned, and called it back without a look at Roxanne, who was most likely smirking. The small seed of doubt that'd been hidden behind my confidence grew all of the sudden, overtaking my other thoughts, and as Poochyena burst from its Pokeball, my discouragement only intensified. My father's face flashed through my mind, though he wasn't giving me the encouraging, 'you can do it!' look that one would normally think of – instead, his eyes were narrowed in disappointment, and dark. Another image was of Littleroot – my tiny, cozy room, the with the new clock that I'd assumed would only collect dust in my absence.

_Maybe…_ I thought, gazing up at Roxanne – she was perched atop a small pedestal, and her face held some amount of confidence to it – _maybe Dad will send me to the school in Rustboro, until I learn how to take out a simple _Geodude_…_

With a heavy sigh, I shook the thoughts from my mind as best as I could and gazed back up at the battlefield, which was still completely shredded by rocks. _I can't think about those things. Not right now, I can't…_

* * *

The rest of the battle, much to my despair, went just as poorly. Poochyena managed to defeat Geodude, but only after sustaining more damage than I'd intended, and Roxanne still had a second Geodude on hand – along with her third Pokemon, which I assumed was her signature one. We had the upper hand, at first, but the rocks on the battlefield made it difficult for Poochyena to maneuver about, and even more difficult for it to find the camouflaged Geodude. Wingull, too, was a lost cause, with very little training and its Flying type combination making it vulnerable to Roxanne's Rock Tomb.

In the end, it was a test of endurance – a skill that Geodude excelled at, and something my Pokemon had yet to be introduced to. I lost, completely, humiliatingly.

"…Well, that was a good battle. You have potential. Come back another time and face me again," the Gym Leader stated coolly, before walking off.

I stood there, practically in shock, staring at the stoic and yet somehow smug girl as she exited her own gym. How could I _lose_? After training so hard, and summoning up all that determination, after the battle in the woods… _Haven't I gotten stronger? At all?_

Once more – it was becoming somewhat of a redundant action –I shook my head. That wasn't important; I'd train more and challenge her again. That was it. The only choice I had.

I hurried back to the Pokemon Center, tail between my legs, and laid low for the rest of the evening.

* * *

The next day, I tried something different; pinning two of my own Pokemon against each other, in a play-fight. We hiked out to Route 104 once more in the first hours of dawn, restocked with all kinds of Potions and restored with the help of the Pokemon Center's care.

First up was Wingull and Poochyena, who were both slightly less experienced than Torchic.

"Charge, and use Bite! Go, dodge it, Wingull! Good, now fly around to the other side of him and use Water Gun!"

The bird Pokemon responded, maneuvering behind Poochyena and sending a blast of water in its direction. Poochyena yelped in frustration and shook its fur out for the umpteenth time in a row. I directed them to do the same procedure again and again, and eventually, it was midday, and Wingull had improved outstandingly. (Poochyena, on the other hand, was not only wet, but also irritable and hungry.)

"Good job, you two," I praised, sitting down next to them and handing them each a snack. "I know it was annoying, tough guy, but Wingull here needs the training."

The Pokemon growled to itself and curled up on nearby rock next to the lake. Its gray fur shimmered under the powerful afternoon sun, and I chuckled. _When did Pokemon become my replacements for people as friends? Well, I guess it's been that way for a while. Even so, I bet all these passersby think I'm pretty weird,_ I thought, eyeing some of the people nearby, who were talking in groups or on the phone or were having an afternoon date. I glaced back over at Wingull, and reached for my belt, pulling out the third Pokeball.

"_Torchic!_" the Pokemon cawed in dejection as it was released from its ball.

I patted it on the head. "It's fine. Mudkip or Treeko would've given me an easier advantage over Roxanne, but… I'd still stick with you, even if I'd known the first Gym Leader was a Rock-type trainer, Torchic!"

It seemed to cheer up a little, nuzzling its fluffy head into my side, and I laughed easily. We trained the rest of the day, Wingull and Poochyena both trying to help Torchic get back on its feet, and headed back into town in the late afternoon.

* * *

"This will be a three-on-three battle against the challenger known as May, and the Rustboro Gym Leader, Roxanne! Begin!"

"Geodude!"

The familiar-looking Rock type appeared again on the opposite end of the battlefield, but I wasn't as disarmed this time. _Don't get ahead of yourself. _I inhaled sharply, and then chucked out the Great Ball holding Wingull. The little bird materialized with a flash and let out a caw, clearly full of energy.

Roxanne nodded. That calculating look was still present in her eyes. "Rock Tomb, Geodude!"

As expected, airbourne rocks as big as me began flying at Wingull; but the training we'd done proved to be advantageous, and my Pokemon dodged them with ease and made its way towards its foe at an alarming speed.

"Now, Water Gun!" I shouted.

Wingull flew over the last rock, skimming its surface – a few cloud-like feathers fell off of its belly in the process – and opened its mouth, aiming right at Geodude. The Rock-type had immense power and defense, but it was practically useless Speed-wise, like most Pokemon of its type. And where Geodude was lacking, Wingull excelled; it not only had a partial type advantage, but it was like a dart mid-flight, impossible to aim at and impossible to predict. The blast of water slammed right into Geodude's face, and it went tumbling backwards like a beach ball before hitting one of the boulders scattered by Rock Tomb, which then collapsed on top of it.

"Good work!" I exclaimed. A fire lit up inside me.

"Return, Geodude," called Roxanne. She threw out her next ball, which, of course, was also a Geodude. _Let's see if I can beat my record…_ I said silently as I observed the Pokemon – it was slightly larger than her first Geodude, but that didn't change the fact that it was weak to Water Gun.

Unfortunately, we hadn't _mastered _the dodging technique, so Wingull was once again knocked right out of the arena without even landing an attack on its opponent. I pinched myself before the same thoughts of doubt that'd seized me before could take root in my mind, and recalled Wingull.

_This isn't over yet. _I met Roxanne's expectant gaze, and she seemed to understand this. Her eyes flashed once again, and her head tilted a little as if wondering what her prey's next move would be.

I sent out Poochyena, next, hoping that it would avenge poor little Wingull, but the Geodude's size wasn't just for show – it was much stronger, its Rock Tomb more accurate, and, of course, its Defense was much, much higher, as it endured almost all of feisty Poochyena's Bites and Tackles without batting an eye. Then, with a single Tackleof its own, Roxanne's monster of a Pokemon sent its foee skidding across the arena and slamming into a nearby wall. I gawked and recalled it. _Damn! Get a hold of yourself, May! You had the lead!_

Both Roxanne and I knew what Pokemon I would send out next. Her judging, thin line of a mouth curved into a smile as I summoned Torchic from its ball again, and I felt myself sweating despite the intensity of the air conditioning. _What does she have up her sleeve…? What's the last Pokemon in her party? Will I even make it that far?_

Torchic squawked and began kneading at the ground with its talons as though it were an agitated wild Tauros, clearly holding a grudge against all Geodudes thanks to our first match. I scoffed playfully at the Pokemon, at first, but then realized that I shared the same animosity, as well. _Of course I'll make it to her last Pokemon. I have to._

The tables, somehow, ended up turning. Torchic was much faster than Geodude, and though the Fire-type's strongest attacks were about as effective as a summer rainstorm against an ancient, deep-rooted oak, there were already so many boulders scattered across the battlefield that it made Geodude's own Rock Tomb ineffective; Torchic could easily avoid the attack by ducking behind one of the many stones.

"This is an interesting strategy, May, but how long can you keep this up?" Roxanne questioned from across the room, still using that casual-yet-formal tone. _She still has a third Pokemon,_ I reminded myself again.

Despite this discouragement, however, Geodude was taken out Torchic's persistent attacks, along with tiring itself out by using Rock Tomb so much.

Roxanne seemed to be on edge, now, and it gave me _hope_. "Nosepass, go!" the Gym Leader announced. In a flash of light, a strange, red-and-blue, statue-like Pokemon shaped like a… nose? Yes… a nose, I realized, materialized in front of her. I quickly, and discreetly, scanned it with the Pokedex.

"_Nosepass, the Compass Pokemon. Nosepass had been said to be completely unmoving, with its magnetic nose pointed due north. However, close observation has revealed that the Pokemon actually moves by a little over 3/8 of an inch every year._"

_This must be her trump card,_ I thought to myself warily. _Don't let me down, Torchic…!_

"Rock Tomb!"

_Again?!_ I thought, practically crushing the Pokedex in my hand. _You've gotta be kidding me!_

Smaller – and sharper – rocks were flung towards Torchic, taking both of us by surprise. _So, this Pokemon is more experienced?_ I narrowed my eyes. The Fire-type barely dodged them and collapsed right next to Nosepass in the process.

"Now, hit it with Tackle!" She then announced, and the Pokemon turned gradually to throw itself towards Torchic.

I panicked. The way Nosepass moved… _It must be way heavier than it looks, which means a Tackle would…_ "…Scratch! Get up, Torchic!"

Torchic's little eyes flew open, and it held up both its feet just in time to _catch_ the Rock-type in midair. I grinned. "Now, hit it with Ember!"

The Pokemon opened its beak, breathing out the flames right into Nosepass's face.

"What?!" came an anguished cry from the other side of the Gym.

Excitement flowed through me. "Now, use-" I stopped myself, noticing something weird about Torchic. Its beak was… glowing? Without a command, the Pokemon then drove its face into Nosepass's, who still hadn't managed to escape my Pokemon's grasp.

"Nosepass!" Though mainly worried, Roxanne's voice also seemed to hold a tinge of enthusiasm.

Shocked, I opened my Pokedex. Sure enough, a new attack name popped up next to the image of Torchic; Peck, a Flying-type move. I looked back up, only to be surprised again. All of Torchic's little body was now glowing. I gasped. _Is this one of Nosepass's attacks?!_

Roxanne was no longer despairing, and instead looked fascinated. She placed one hand on her hip. "Well, this is quite the sight…! May, your Torchic is…"

The light faded, revealing a larger, more humanoid-like Pokemon covered with yellow and orange feathers. Instead of Torchic's puny wings, it boasted two long, muscular, clawed arms. Beady, shining eyes changed into confident, fiery ones, and the talons that Nosepass was still held securely in had each grown to the size of my own foot.

_Evolution…!_ My eyes widened. _Torchic is…_

"_Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokemon, and the evolved form of Torchic. Combusken battles with the intensely hot flames it spews from its beak and outstandingly destructive kicks. This Pokemon's cry is very loud and distracting."_

I looked up from the Pokedex I had subconsciously whipped out, admiring Torchic's new form.

"_KR-AA!" _came a wicked cry from the battlefield.

I skimmed through the rest of the Pokedex's entry for Combusken; it was part Fighting-type, part Fire, and had most of Torchic's previous moves, along with a fourth one to match its new-and-improved talons: Double Kick.

"…Double Kick, Combusken!" I called out after I'd found my voice again. The new name would take some getting used to.

The rowdy Pokemon responded with the same fire as before, tossing Nosepass backwards and then charing right at it. Like some kind of acrobat, Combusken landed two kicks from each foot into the Rock-type, and following that there was a loud cracking noise.

After what felt like hours, the silence was broken by Roxanne's Pokemon falling over sideways, defeated.

Time slowed down as I gradually realized what had just happened. Not only had Torchic evolved, but… I'd _beat_ my first gym…!? A moment later, the beat-up, tattered Combusken was hugging my legs and squawking triumphantly. The Pokemon practically emanated positivity, and, combined with the bubble of reassurance I felt from the win, I was more or less forced to let out a big laugh to go with its cries of victory.

"Well, I lost… That's alright, though, I suppose I have some more studying to do." Roxanne approached me coolly. "Please accept this Stone Badge, Trainer May, on behalf of the Pokemon League, and me."

I took the little trinket in the girl's hands after a moment of hesitation. It was a dirt-color, and reminded me faintly of a gold medal – though that was probably the euphoria. "I… Thank you…!"

She explained that it would increase my Pokemon's abilities, as well as my own power, and then handed me the TM for Rock Tomb - I was so overcome with pride that I only heard half of what she said.

"You should go and challenge the other Gym Leaders," she advised once I recalled the little Fighting-type. "It can teach you lots of new things, about Pokemon and yourself, like this fight did."

I nodded in understanding. "The next one is in…"

"I recommend Brawly, of Dewford Town, next."

_Dewford,_ I thought, scribbling the word into a random page in my journal. _Okay. That's where I'm headed next, then…!_

With another formal thank-you to Roxanne, I left the gym.

* * *

**A/N: **Roxanne could be pretty interesting. She does appear later in the story, so it's not like I'll never mention her again, but I tried to write her as seemingly really stoic and confident in her abilities (she's a nerd lbh here honors student) but at the same time she wakes up a little when she battles May because protagonists apparently have that effect on people. Haha. But May's sort of, more or less, like this *potential* prodigy (not quite with how much she messes up, but hey) , so she walks in seeming like a newbie but the leaders realize 'gee, she's alright, I should tell the next leader to keep a look out' 'hey, she sort of reminds me of Norman?'

So Roxanne's wake up call is sort of like Volkner's in a sense. Maybe she's bored with all the grade schoolers that wipe on her first Pokemon, I dunno, you decide. I don't want to go too much into each Gym Leader, obviously, because 1. T-too many characters! orz and 2. The main plot isn't exactly the gym battles, so I don't want to waste a lot of time on them… But I won't make them all flat and boring because that'd suck and yeah

On that note, Aqua's in the next chapter! And the best character obviously Peeko


	6. Chapter 6 - Aqua and Devon

**A/N: **Here's Chapter 6. Not too much to put up here, this time – again, those reviews are greatly appreciated and help a lot. I'm just now realizing how short my other chapters were, I was purposely splitting them up a bit because I thought 3,000 words was a lot, but maybe I'll include more, I don't know. Choppy chapters usually bother me but long ones can get boring. If anyone has thoughts about it or thinks I should lengthen /shorten them, just say so in a review haha

I also went back to Chapter 1 and added a little extra segment to the ending about Aqua. I might add in more between Chapter 2 and here…?

The story will definitely start picking up a bit from now on. If you've read this far, thanks!

I'd recommend checking out this acoustic version of rustboro's theme on youtube called "_Rustboro City Guitar Cover_" while reading, it's really good

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Team Aqua Appears! The President of Devon Corporation, Mr. Stone**

I had started making my way over to the Pokemon Center, intending to get Poochyena and Wingull healed as soon as I could, when something – someone – had to interrupt me.

"Outta the way, get out of the way!"

That voice was _too _familiar.

"Move, dammit!" It was closer now – right behind me, in fact, and I barely ducked out of the way in time as someone sped past me.

Sure enough, a man dressed in a blue and white outfit, and with spiky, brown hair, was trucking his way down the sidewalk, pushing both businessmen and trainers out of his way. I frowned; there was something suspicious (and familiar?) in his arms. Like a bus gone out of control, the man swerved to the left, knocking over a few pedestrians in his wake, and disappeared down another street. Thankfully, he didn't spot me.

I blinked, and looked back at where he'd come from. Another man was shoving through the crowd as well.

"Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Give them back!" he pleaded, panting as he scurried after the Aqua man.

My jaw dropped. That was… _The man from Petalburg Woods! What's he doing?_

One of my Pokeballs broke itself open, and suddenly a very upset Combusken was standing at my side, pulling me in the same direction as the two men that just ran off went. "Hold on, Combusken! I-I haven't even gone to the Pokemon Center yet!"

The Pokemon chirped as if saying _it_ was perfectly okay to battle. I looked at it unsurely, and then said, "Fine. Just let me drop off the other two, then."

"_Kraa!_"

We hurried down a few blocks, into the Pokemon Center. I practically threw the Great ball and Pokeball on the main desk, earning a confused look from the woman standing there.

"Um-"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" I called, running for the door without any explanation. There was no _time_. _That Aqua guy is dangerous! What is the Devon man doing, going after him?!_

Combusken and I both pushed through crowds of people; it was one of the busiest hours for the city, and everyone was out getting their lunch, making it all the more difficult for us to get to the northern end, where the two men had ran off to. To make matters worse, policemen were all rushing in the same direction I was, by car, bike, and foot.

Eventually, I swung around a corner and slipped through a throng of chattering officers to find the same businessman, slouched over in despair on the side of the road. After a second he seemed to notice us, and his eyes lit up. "Trainer!"

I shifted as he approached me.

"Please, trainer, you have to help me! Team Aqua robbed me – no, t-they robbed Devon Corporation! – right in the middle of the city! A-and the police have no leads – he disappeared onto Route 116, and even if they found him, they told me they can't accuse 'Team Aqua' of anything unless they have proof they've done something wrong, and, and… oh, man, I'm going to be in so much trouble if I don't get those Devon Goods back, I…"

I wasn't exactly looking to play hero, but the man was practically having a mid-life crisis right in front of me, and Combusken was extra antsy. It stomped at my feet and tugged at my shorts as if it were beckoning me to join it in a… what was this? A police chase? _I'm just a girl!_

"I'll get them back, sir. Don't worry," I told him in the most stable voice I could muster, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was a little awkward, as he was much taller than me, but the gesture at least ceased his shaking.

"Thank youuu~!" he cried as Combusken and I marched onto Route 116, heads held high. "It's all up to you now, trainer!"

* * *

The brush at my feet thickened as the distance between Rustboro and I increased. The cityscape rapidly died down, until the only buildings left were the occasional backwoods cabins here or there, and instead of skyscrapers, massive trees crisscrossed with vines and ivy stretched up towards the afternoon sky. The shrill chirps and peeps of insects, rustling of leaves, and the _crunch, crunch _coming from each step I took through the earthy trail all prevented me from being able to clearly hear any nearby voices, but Combusken appeared to be on the right trail.

_I know it's not safe to have only one Pokemon at my side, especially if... this whole thing ends up being bigger than I think, but... No, I don't have time to worry about that... Not with 'Team Aqua' _robbing_ people. _I glanced upwards and let out a tired sigh. _Rustboro seemed like a practically crime-less city, too…_

There were a number of trainers in my way that attempted to challenge me, but I told them I would have to battle later due to the situation and all but a few understood.

After an hour or so of hiking, a huge mountain of stone rose from the horizon all of the sudden, jutting out from the sea of vegetation, and the bright, bleached color of the rock was highly conspicuous – how had I not spotted it before? I raised my eyebrows and stared. Combusken was equally shocked, as well, taking a step backwards; we hadn't seen anything like this from Route 116 or Rustboro. How far away from the city _was_ this…?

Carved into a nearby chunk of the stone was a crevice around the size of a person. It was definitely man-made. I hadn't spotted a man resembling the Team Aqua thug at all on the way here, and there wasn't a single smudge of the his blue outfit in the landscape of prairie and rock stretched out around me. Anxiousness started to well up inside me. What if they got away? Or worse, what if they were waiting somewhere, in hiding, to ambush me? _Geh, what are you thinking, May? There's only one of them. 'Team Aqua's is probably just some kind of teenage gang that eggs people's houses. …Yeah, that's it._

I looked to Combusken, who was starting towards the entrance to the cave, and continued after it.

* * *

Closer up to the cave's entrance stood a frail old man, holding a concerned expression. "Oh, Peeko, what do I do, what do I do…?"

"Is something wrong?" I inquired as I stopped before him.

He peered at me, squinting as though his eyesight was going, and nodded. "Oh, me and Peeko were on a walk, when we were jumped, lass!" his sailor-like accent betrayed his senile appearance. "They took her right out of me arms!" He began roaring with fury, all the while crying his eyes out, which was a little unusual.

_Still, the fact that this 'Team Aqua' would go so far as to mug and elderly couple…_

I exchanged a wary look with Combusken and stepped into the darkness.

The cave was much less roomy inside than it appeared to be from the Route; that was the first thing I noticed. If anything, it was more of a tunnel. I hardly had enough room to walk aside Combusken without tripping over it. There was still a fair amount of light, though, illuminating the soupy mist that swept around my feet. Each of my steps created a long echo that sent shivers up my spine and gave me the feeling that I must've been waking _something_ up. I wandered about for a bit, still keeping my ears open, finding a few items, and noticed that only one kind of Pokemon inhabited the cave. They were some kind of round, lavender things, that would scurry behind boulders or into crevices when Combusken and I would get near them. I pulled out my Pokedex, curious.

"_Whismur, the Whisper Pokemon. Whismur is very timid. If it starts to cry loudly, it becomes startled by its own crying and cries even harder. When it finally stops crying, the Pokemon goes to sleep, all tired out."_

"Cute," I mused to myself, "And a Normal type. I wonder if Dad's caught any of these… Maybe I should…"

"Huh?! You again, kid? You wanna battle again?"

The gruff voice shattered my train of thought and I spun around in a panic to find where it had come from. _T-there's no way he's been in here the whole time! I haven't heard a thing…! _In the faint light I gradually made out the image of the Team Aqua thug from Rustboro. Next to him was a Wingull, though its normally outstretched wings appeared to be bound.

I took a step forward, steeling myself.

He turned to the Pokemon, kicking it lightly to the side, and then retreated back a bit. "Tch, what a useless hostage. And this tunnel! Who digs one out only to leave a dead end?!"

I stepped closer to the man. "Please, give me the Devon Goods."

He laughed in spite of his frustration. "Give you them? Your voice is shaking, y'know! And what if I don't?!" The same Poochyena from before crawled out from a crack in the mass of boulders behind the man, fur spiked up and teeth bared.

I frowned, meeting the man's gaze, and then barked, "Combusken, go!"

He, of course, called for his Poochyena once more. The little Dark-type had grown significantly, but Combusken had grown more – the Fighting-type strafed back and forth with ease as its opponent launched a flurry of tackles and bites. I was surprised, myself. Torchic's power was nothing compared to this. But at the same time, Combusken almost seemed like it didn't know how to _control_ its new strength, and its battle style was sloppy – no thanks for the clumsy, big talons, of course.

However, with two solid Double Kicks, we were able to pull through. A wave of relief washed away any anxiousness left in me as the Aqua man's pup fell from the indent in the tunnel wall and fell into the dampness in a heap.

"Damn it! The boss told me stealing this stupid Devon package would be easy!" he cursed as he recalled the fainted Pokemon. Two beady, furious orbs met mine, no longer heated with arrogance but instead, with animosity. "You'll see, kid. Team Aqua's a lot bigger and a lot stronger than whatever you think!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Team Aqua… Why are you stealing from Devon Corporation, anyways?"

He only grinned before pushing past me. The Devon Goods were thrown onto the ground – unfortunately landing right in a puddle. Combusken growled.

"None of your business, girl! As far as you know, we're just a…" he turned around, making a sarcasticly-worried expression, eyes curling in humor, and annunciated his next words: "'Simple nonprofit environmental activism group!' Hahaha! Or whatever it was those news peoples calls us."

I frowned. _Activism…? What? The news… 'Team Aqua' has enough attention to be featured on the news? Just who are they…?_

Before I knew it, I was alone in the cavern with my Pokemon and my own muddled thoughts. Combusken was communicating with the Wingull in a series of squawks, and I hurried over to help undo the ropes firmly tied around its wings. Then there were more footsteps, and I braced myself – _he didn't call for backup, did he?! –_ only to realize that they were slower, and lighter. The mist cleared a little, and from around the corner the old man from Route 116 emerged. He waddled right past me and pulled the Wingull into his arms.

"Peeko, my Peeko, you're alright!" he cooed.

The Wingull responded with a chirp, and its unbound wings flapped in glee.

"Thank you so much!" The man turned to me, glowing.

"Um." I looked at him. "This is 'Peeko'? You mean, it was a Pokemon?"

He nodded, and his lips rose into a small, relieved smile, softening his otherwise weathered face. "Aye! Peeko has been here with me since me days as an admiral!"

I blinked. _Admiral?_

"So what is the savior of Peeko here called?"

"…May," I told him in a level tone. "And you're welcome, it was no problem."

He shook my hand gratefully and patted me on the shoulder. "Well, I'm known as Mr. Briney! I have a cottage on the sea on Route 104, next to Petalburg, so if ye need any assistance, don't hesitate to ask!"

I smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"Come on, then, Peeko!"

And so, the weary Mr. Briney and his Wingull started out of the cave. _A captain, huh… cottage on the sea… Then, maybe…_

* * *

"Here you go!"

I was handed another Great Ball by the ever-so-thankful Devon employee. Were those… tears in his eyes?

"Thank you _so_ much for getting me back the Devon Goods, oh! My job is saved!" He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. I made a face. "You're such a great trainer, you know that? Oh, by the way, please, come with me back to the office building! My boss just has to meet you in person!"

I sighed. It was getting late and my Pokemon were probably all healed up by now back at the center, but I didn't want to be rude, so I followed the businessman into the beautiful Devon building, all the way up to the third floor, which he explained was where Devon Corporation's president was. We paused at the top of the stairs, and he turned to me with a big grin.

"Anyways, can you do us a favor, and take those Devon Goods straight to Slateport City's Shipyard?" he inquired. "They'll be so much safer if you're delivering them! Plus, Aqua would never expect someone like you to be carrying such a precious item!"

I practically fell over in exasperation. _Geez, these business people don't quit, do they?!_ "Sure, I'll probably be in Slateport City at one point or another soon, anyways." I didn't even know where Slateport City _was_. All I knew was that it was a major coastal city, and it was where we first disembarked from the boat we took from Johto.

The employee grinned, and then disappeared behind a corner, telling me to wait. _This is getting a little ridiculous…_

"Yes! She saved me from Team Aqua in Petalburg, sir! Yea, the Devon Goods have been secured, thanks to…"

I could only catch bits and pieces of what he was saying in the other room. _Wait… is he talking to.. t-the president of Devon?! _I gulped and took a step backwards. …_Huh? Huuuuh?! Hang on a second!_

In a moment the employee was back in the stairwell, telling me that the President wanted to have a word with me.

I almost threw up. "U-uhh, I'm not really, you know, in the right… clothes, for something like this?!" I told him, looking at my casual, beat up outfit and messy hair and my general complete lack of formality, not to mention Combusken was still-

"It's fine, it's fine!" the older businessman said, pushing me towards the door. "He's used to people like you, anyways! Come on, don't be shy! You're a hero, that's what you are!"

"Used to? What- Oh! Mr. President, sir." The employee disappeared, shutting the door behind me. I found myself standing in a medium-sized office that just screamed luxury; there were paintings, along with photographs both color and black and white, hanging on the walls, hiding behind detailed, silver frames, and the wallpaper – it was like nothing I'd ever seen, like a single panorama photograph of some kind of mountain range, and on the wall opposite to me was a magnificent Palladian window that looked out over Rustboro City.

Combusken, of course, began wandering around the room as though it were already uninterested. I hesitantly met the President's gaze – he was seated in a huge, old-fashioned leather chair in front of the window – and gulped.

"Greetings, Trainer. I'm Mr. Stone, the President of the Devon Corporations." He stated, carrying a fairly deep voice to accompany his gruff appearance. His hair color was of a similar shade of blue to my own father's, but there were more than a few gray streaks here and there, and atop his head was a white fedora. If someone were not to recognize the man by his appearance, the nametag reading 'MR. STONE' neatly attached to his pinstripe lavender suit would surely give his position away. On his face was a disarmingly kind smile – it threw me off. "You are quite the amazing trainer! What was your name again?"

I was taken aback, and looked around the room as though I'd find a response to the question hidden in the mahogany bookshelves or the deep scarlet carpeting. "T-thanks. I… My name's… May."

"Well, I'd hate to ask another favor of you, May," he added, chuckling a little, "but I heard you are headed to Slateport City."

"Oh, uh, yup! To the Shipyard." I was even more nervous, now. I had no intention of going to Slateport, at least not until I knew where in Hoenn it was, and yet, I was promising such a large corporation I would run favors for them…!? _Why can't he just give me a wad of cash and be done with it?!_ Not that I really _wanted_ any, but… it would have been nice, anyways…

He nodded. "Well, since you'll probably pass by Dewford Town on the way there, I'd appreciate it if you delivered a letter to a person named Steven; he's somewhere in that area, right around now."

"Oh," I replied. _So, I'm delivering mail, too, now…_ "Okay." I cursed my inability to turn down his request as Mr. Stone handed me the letter, sealed in an envelope made of some sort of high-quality stationery. "I'm going to Dewford, anyways, to challenge the Gym, so this shouldn't be too out-of-the-way."

The President smiled once more. "Of course – the gym challenge. Oh, and to repay you for your efforts, of course – here."

I was handed another item by Mr. Stone; this time it was an electronic, looking somewhat like the Pokedex, though orange, and a bit larger. "…Thank you, sir. What is it?"

"A Pokenav," he responded. "A Pokemon Navigator. It's made especially for trainers, by Devon, and has all sorts of special features, such as a phone and a virtual map – in case you need help getting around the Hoenn region!"

_Oh, no! He can tell I don't know how to get around here, just by looking at me?! Was it really that obvious?_ "May, was it?"

"Yes," I told him.

Mr. Stone chuckled once more and held his hand out. "Well, good luck! Oh, and make sure you give me a call on the Pokenav when you leave; it's a newer model, and frankly, I'd like to test if it is working properly…!" I shook his hand, too nervous, even, to wipe the sweat from it, and gave the sweetest smile I could summon before turning to leave.

"And May," he called in a more serious tone as I was stepping out from the room. My head creaked back around.

"…Yes, President?"

I got a bad feeling about what he was about to say.

His chair swiveled around the window, so that he wasn't facing me. "I've heard about those two criminal groups running around and doing all sorts of suspicious things… Team Aqua and Team Magma…"

I grimaced; it was exactly what I thought he was going to bring up. _Magma? There are two…?_ "Yeah, they… were the ones that stole from your company…?"

"Be wary of them on your travels, May. I wouldn't recommend getting any further involved with them..." My eyes flicked downwards. "And, of course, make sure you rest up before you leave! Devon Corporations will always welcome you!" The last part was noticeably more positive than the whole warning about Team Aqua and Team Magma, almost like he didn't want to stay on that subject. But I understood. Both 'Teams' sounded bigger than I'd first expected them to be; I silently vowed to myself that I'd stay away from them, from now on.

* * *

After saying another thanks, Combusken and I left the office. It was late, by now, and I settled on going back to the Pokemon Center for rest – the journey to Dewford could wait a day. Combusken went marching ahead down the stairs, but I paused, taking one last look at the room. It wasn't very cluttered, like I'd expect a big corporation's main conference area to be; in fact, the only decorative items appeared to be a few stones placed inside a small glass case, on top of a stand. Curious, I wandered over and took a look. They sparkled, even in the dim lighting, and were a variety of colors. Bug-eyed, I stared at a few I recognized – there were a number of evolutionary stones.

_Wait a second, this is really suspicious, isn't it? _I thought to myself, and I hurried after Combusken.

Even as I made my way back to the ground floor, the few researchers left in Devon went out of their way to thank me, or tell me I was always welcome there, or just smile in my direction, or _even_ to tell me that they'd be there if I ever needed help. Much to my own surprise, I felt… _proud_ of what I'd done.

I ran my fingers over the Pokenav as we made our way outside, and grinned. It would _definitely_ come in handy. Excitedly, I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a strip of paper with the phone numbers of my parents, as well as Birch, on it, and registered them in the phone section of the Pokenav. _Oh, that's right… The president, _I thought, clicking on the contact reading "MR. STONE."

"…Hello?"

"Hi, Mr. President. I'm just calling to let you know the Pokenav is working." Talking to such a man was admittedly much easier when it wasn't face-to-face.

"Oh, May! Well, then, that's good, ha ha ha! You seem to like it!" came his jolly voice from the other end, and I blinked in surprise.

"How-"

He chortled. "I can see you from my window, up here!"

I furrowed my brow as I looked back up the side of the building to try and find the arched window of Mr. Stone's office, to no avail – the setting sun created one hell of a glare.

"Ohohoho! Well, 'best of luck' on your journeys, as my son would say. Devon thanks you again. Goodbye!"

I closed the Pokenav, a little stunned.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky when we, at long last, returned to the Pokemon Center. I retrieved my other two Pokemon from the Nurse Joy and handed them a ball holding Combusken in it, before answering a few questions about my Gym challenge - apparently, Roxanne hadn't lost to a challenging trainer in quite some time.

"Oh! You beat Roxanne, huh?"

Something jolted up my spine. _That voice is…_

"And cool, you have a Pokenav now, too! Let's register each other, already!"

Brendan, complete with his big obnoxious sock-hat, ran up to me, whipping out his own Pokenav. I smirked inwardly at the fact that it seemed to be an older model, and agreed to the idea.

As I clicked my number into his Pokenav, he started babbling again: "So, I just caught, like, a ton of Pokemon in Petalburg Woods! My Pokedex is filling up! How about yours? Oh, by the way – you probably don't know already – but Mr. Briney? He's this old sailor guy that always has this Wingull, Peeko, perched on his shoulder. Yeah, I ran into him while I was in Petalburg. I think he'd be a good way to head across the sea to Dewford."

"Yeah," I replied blankly, "I saw him earlier. He's a pretty interesting old man."

Brendan looked a little dissatisfied with my response, but I could hardly help it, considering how exhausted I was. My eyelids flicked as though trying to clse while I was still standing and conscious. Frankly, I didn't want to tell him about my experience with Aqua or Devon Co. at all. _For all I know, my dad could find out if I told Brendan, _I thought with a shiver.

"Anyways, I'm pretty tired-" I yawned mid-sentence, "-so… I'm going to go get some sleep. Tell Professor Birch I said hi, though."

I sauntered off, leaving a dejected Brendan there with Nurse Joy, who was laughing along gingerly.

"Wh- huh!? Hey, hey, what's with that air of superiority, May?!"

* * *

**A/N: **Haha. Brendan is a bit of a braggart and May is just a little too cocky, which makes them act like siblings.

I sort of mixed up the rival encounter here. In the games, you encounter Brendan/May in the actual city (and in Emerald, I'm pretty sure you battle them) but since the games really only have day time and no night I decided to change it up a little. Plus, a battle seems a little unfitting here – May doesn't stay any extra days to hang out because of the letter and the Devon Goods, which is more or less pretty urgent.

Dewford Town's next! And we get straight to another Gym battle. And, of course (drumroll) Steven! The next part may take a little longer to update because I need to fix a lot of stuff, but it'll come soon. (This chapter is late, too, I keep meaning to update it earlier in the afternoon but w/e)

Also, May's view on Aqua is interesting here. She's really tentative to get into the whole thing at first, but the whole in-between-the-lines thing with Mr. Stone is that he realizes that it's probably already too late for her/she's already on Aqua's radar. Anyway, I don't want to spoil anything else, so yeah. (what is there to spoil in a 11 year old game, etc.)


	7. Chapter 7 - Dewford

**A/N: **The whole Dewford scene was originally one chapter but I broke it into two again due to length. 7 is pretty short but 8 is eventful and it should be up sometime tomorrow.

I just noticed that there's a ton of other fics doing the same kind of fic I am right now, I'd read them if I had the time, but either way, that's cool and I'd just like to acknowledge them here, I guess. Shout out to fellow hopelessly-obsessed Pokemon fans hah

Also, I want to take a moment and point out a _really_ good fic that this chapter and Chapter 8 may unintentionally have a few nods to, by xXsapphireheartXx, _Heroes of Hoenn_! I read it well over a year ago without realizing it hadn't been updated since 2010 orz – I loved their take on Brawly. The Dewford chapter made me laugh way more than I should have.

Anyway, this is the next part.

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Cross the Sea to Dewford Town, 'The Trendiest Place in Hoenn'!?**

_Bzzt! Bzzt!_

A calloused hand reached out and picked up a phone.

"_Sir, this is Amber… Reporting in as instructed… Twenty-two hundred."_

The owner of the telephone rested his feet atop his desk and sat back in his chair. "Eh? That's good. So?"

"_…There's… been a slight slip-up in my plan of action – the operation in Petalburg Woods did not go as planned, but rest assured, I've created a back-up plan."_

"Back-up plan…"

The voice on the other line quivered. "_S-sir, I assure you it was only coincidental. It won't happen again. I'm sending reinforcements as we speak."_

"I'm not pissed, Amber. I'll leave this up to you, then."

"_Sir."_

The line went blank, and with a sigh, the man hung up the phone. He gazed out the window to the right of his desk – though it was dark, the moon was bright enough to show off the ocean stretching out around him. His mouth distorted into a frown as he spotted what seemed to be a whaling vessel floating not too far away.

_Disgusting, _he thought, and stormed out of his quarters into the dark corridors beyond.

* * *

"_KRAAAA!_"

I jolted awake, and, in one amazing move, fell out of bed and onto the floor, landing on my loud, squawking Combusken. "Wh-what the… _Ahg_! What time is it, Combusken!"

It chirped and pulled itself out from under me. I reached into my bag that was hanging on the headboard and pulled out the shiny, new Pokenav.

"Six in the morning…" I muttered sleepily. "You're too mean, you stupid bird…"

_"Busken! Combusken!"_

I gathered my belongings, tied my bandana back around my wild hair, and hurried out of the Pokemon Center, clipping the Pokenav to my bag's waistband_. It's still dark out._ _Lovely. _We did have a long travel ahead of us, though, hoping to get to Mr. Briney's sea cottage by noon. I was aiming to get to Dewford as soon as possible, not only because I hungered for my second Gym badge, but because I wasn't sure how long this Steven man would be there for – and I didn't want to have to call up Mr. Stone saying I failed to deliver his message. Combusken ran on ahead of me, bouncing in exuberance, and I followed with much less enthusiasm.

A thick, early morning fog hovered just above the ground, reluctantly avoiding my feet as I waded through it. The city itself was dead silent, at this hour. The morning birds had not yet awoken, nor had the businessmen that usually lined the cobblestone streets. It wasn't eerie in the least, though; the air was warm, which made the gentle breeze all the more refreshing. I was tempted to stop at a café and wait for it to open, so we'd at least get a _proper_ breakfast, for once, but Combusken was surprisingly eager to move on.

By the time we reached the southern exit of the town, many streetlights were flickering out, and the sky was turning a calm, easing shade of pale.

* * *

We trekked back across upper Route 104, through Petalburg Woods – which was much easier to traverse downhill than uphill – and eventually were knocking on the door of the sea cottage we'd eaten lunch just a few days prior. I sighed and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. It was hot out, now, and the sun was inching closer and closer to the top of the sky.

"Oh!" The door slid open. "It's Ms. May! Isn't it, Peeko?!"

Mr. Briney, seeming more energetic than ever, gave me a radiant smile. Peeko flew up and landed on his shoulder, squawking what I guessed was a greeting.

"Hi, Mr. Briney," I greeted, clinging to the hope that he'd be able to transport me to Dewford.

"What can I do for ye?"

I glanced back over the bay, taking note of a medium-sized boat parked next to a rickety old pier. "Well, I was wondering… Dewford Town is south of here, right? M-my next Gym battle's there, you see, so… If you don't mind…"

The old man was already out the door and sprinting towards his boat, little Peeko in trail. I stared, wide-eyed. "What are we waiting for?! Set sail for Dewford Town! Let's go, Peeko dear!"

_Ah, I feel tired just being around this guy. _I climbed aboard, immediately grabbing hold of a railing. Boats and me did not go together well. Combusken looked even more uncomfortable, though, and started cawing in agony once we set sail – the boat moved surprisingly fast. When the Pokemon began to squawk louder, I called it back into its Pokeball.

The wind was nice, nonetheless; it wasn't as brutally cold as the kind of ocean breeze you'd get sailing in Olivine City. My hair was tossed in every direction as I gazed out across the water, and I felt the corners of my mouth lift themselves into a smile.

The open ocean was dotted with little sand bars and islands here and there, and a combination of swimmers and Pokemon trainers bobbed up and down with the glittering waves. Some of them moved out of the boat's path, while others shouted out friendly greetings to Briney, and some even approached the vehicle so as to ride in its wake.

Suddenly, I became aware of a faint ringing noise interrupting the sound of the crashing waves, and realized it was my Pokenav. I pulled it from its place on my belt and flipped it open. _A… Phone call?_

"Hello?" I called loudly so as to talk over the roar of the waves and the engine.

"Huh, is that you, May?" came my dad's voice from the other end. "Where are you? It must be awfully windy there!"

"…Oh! Uh, hi, Dad. I'm heading over to Dewford Town right now. I'm on the water."

"Ah, is that so? That's good. Gotten over your fear of boating, huh? Mr. Stone just called me and told me about your new Pokenav."

I swallowed nervously, switching the phone to my other hand. _Mr. Stone…? Did he… tell him about… My run-in with Team Aqua, too, then? I hope not. _Please _don't tell me he did…_

"I don't know how on earth you managed to get on good terms with a man like that, but whatever the case is, I'm glad you seem to be making progress. Well, take care, now, and good luck fighting Brawly. If you can, head to Slateport after you beat him, and pick up some souvenirs for your mother…!"

"Oh, okay. I'll do that, Dad." _…_

"Anyways, if you're doing alright, then that's fine with me. Talk to you soon."

"Sounds good. Bye, Dad."

_Click._

I carefully secured the Pokenav back on my belt and let out a tremendous breath of relief. _Good… I can't have my dad knowing about that whole Aqua thing._ I sighed, feeling a little guilty, but it was for his own good – and _mine_. _Mr. Stone really knows what he's doing._

* * *

It was around 2 in the afternoon – and unbelievably hot – when we made landing at Dewford Town. With its size, it was much more like a village, built entirely on what I could only describe as the _epitome _of a tropical beach, and beyond it was a jungle that stretched out into the horizon. The sand was a creamy white, and the town itself looked clean and well-looked after. Along the shore, there were crowds of people, a mix of elderly couples and younger partygoers, maybe around my age, having fun and dancing and what-not. Behind me, the water lazily basked in the sun, with a few larger waves rolling about here and there.

I hopped off the boat, grateful to be on land again. Combusken popped out of its Pokeball and stretched along with me.

"Well, here we are in Dewford!" said Mr. Briney, appearing beside me. Peeko chirped happily, lifting itself from its master's shoulders and gliding around the boat. _It must like it here, _I thought, chuckling to myself. "Righto, you were going to take that letter from Mr. Stone to, err… Steven, his name was, right? Take yer time, lass! I'll be waiting here!"

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Mr. Briney!"

* * *

Dewford was a quaint little area. There were buildings here and there, along with nice-looking shacks that I realized were beach houses, but it wasn't bustling, like a city or a port. There was good amount of nature mixed in between buildings, too, from sand dunes to rock faces to exotic trees. The wind was still strong, what with how close the ocean was, but it could be refreshing, should you be out in the sun for a while.

Combusken ran right into the dunes and began playing, and I released out my other two Pokemon, letting them enjoy the nice weather as well, before turning towards the crowds of people on the beach and resting my hands on my hips.

_Alright… I'm looking for two people, now. Steven, and Brawly. I can't really imagine the Gym Leader would be cooped up in his gym on a day like today… But, at the same time, if this Steven guy works for Devon, I can't see him hanging out on the beach with a bunch of young… fratboys._

And sure enough, I was right – about Brawly, at least. As I stood there in contemplation, a bunch of people dressed in swimsuits zipped past me, making for the water, blathering in excitement. I narrowed my eyes. _What are they all worked up about, I wonder…?_ One guy pushed me right out of the way, and I almost fell face-first into the sand. _Hey, watch it…!_

"He's here!"

"Here he comes!" they shouted in glee.

Now my interest was piqued. I wandered away from my Pokemon, following the crazed teenagers. _…He?_

I half expected "him" to be some kind of shallow, cool, beach-boy surfer-dude idolized by all the girls in Dewford, and I was partly right. They began pointing out into the ocean, calling out, clapping, and cheering. I squinted and tried to get a glimpse at what they were looking at.

Sure enough, atop a humongous wave, was a well-built, younger guy, with spiky blue hair that blended in with the sky behind him, standing on a long surfboard. Perched on the back of the board was a small creature I guessed to be one of his Pokemon.

He slid across the tide perfectly, and I was more than a little impressed. Surfing was almost a foreign thing on the rocky coastline of Olivine, and often brought many casualties. The wave drew nearer, and I realized it was going to hit the shore right where everyone was standing. I backed up some – and just in time. With a roar and a crash, around fifteen people went flopping onto the ground, still cheering, and the guy hopped off his board, landing in the dry sand just a few feet in front of me. His Pokemon crawled up onto his shoulder.

"Yo," he greeted casually, in a deep voice I'd practically predicted him to have.

I blinked, and after a moment of hesitation, replied, "Um. Hi?"

The group of fans, which had finally recovered, stampeded up to the guy and crowded around him, making all sorts of noises.

"Brawly! I love you!"

"That was soo amazing, wow!"

"COOL!"

"Can I have your number?!"

I made a look of discomfort, and was about to turn and leave when something one of them had said hit me. _Brawly?_ I glanced back over my shoulder at the lean surfer who was now waving to all of his friends. The gears in my head began to turn, ever so slowly. _Then, he's…_

I swerved around, calling my Pokemon to my side. "Brawly?"

Confirming my suspicions, the blue-haired man glanced over at me with two bright, curious eyes. "Sup?"

"You're the Gym Leader of Dewford, right?" I questioned, trying to stay as professional as possible, even with his league of fans watching my every move. "I'd like to challenge you to a gym battle."

Something flashed in his blue eyes, and he smiled, looking back over the clique behind him. Hope sprung up in me, but unfortunately, it was short-lived.

"Haha, sorry, little blue," he chimed with a slanted grin. "I've got plans for the evening, but if you can lay low 'till tomorrow, that'd be rad."

I put on a polite smile, with much effort, and nodded. "That's okay. Thank you." _What the hell was that nickname? Geez, Dad would never slack off on his job _this_ much…!_ I furrowed my brow in frustration as soon as I was facing away from the crowd.

Brawly began lumbering back into the ocean, Pokemon in trail, and his followers chased after him once more when I remembered my other task.

"By the way," a few of them turned around, raising their eyebrows in interest. "I'm, umm... I'm looking for a man named Steven. He works with, uh, Devon Corporation, I think. Has anyone like that passed through here…?"

The group's eyes widened briefly stretching into wild grins. They cackled, like hyenas, giving me knowing glances now and then, until one of them finally forced out a "A 'Steven', huh? I haven't seen 'im, personally, no. But I can't imagine why someone like you would be looking for him."

I narrowed my eyes and frowned. "And why is that?"

It was too late, though; they'd lost interest and were now strutting back over to the shoreline, chattering to themselves in voices that could have been a little more hushed. A foul taste was left in my mouth, and I kicked up some sand before moving in the opposite direction.

My Pokemon and I headed towards the Pokemon Center. I was discouraged. I'd been planning on getting the Gym battle over with today, and finding Steven, at the latest, by tomorrow, and then getting on my way to Slateport, but unfortunately, it wasn't going to work out that way. Combusken tugged at my leg encouragingly.

"Alright, alright. We'll search for Steven, for now," I told it, pulling the envelope from my pocket and making my way to a nearby building.

* * *

The rest of the day, I went in each of the houses and talked to a good amount of people, none of which were named 'Steven', or even looked like they were associated with Devon Corporation. Most of the townspeople were easygoing natives, with tanned skin, messy hair, and half-open aloha shirts – those who weren't from around Dewford were vacationing. Additionally, those who did show a smidge of recognition when I mentioned the name Steven either had a reaction similar to the beach group's, or wildly questioned me on how I knew them and where he was.

Everyone in Dewford was very detached, just like Brawly, and seemed to not even care about anything outside their serene little society here on the island (Ironically, many trends and sayings used even in _Johto _were said to have originated here.) However, one family had told me that a friend of their friend's friend – or something weird like that – had spotted 'him' at some point earlier in the week, up at the northern peninsula of the island, so I didn't give up hope. They did seem awfully sure that it had been _Steven_ they'd seen, though, despite me giving no actual description of him.

The sun was setting as I stepped up to the door of a large building called 'Dewford Hall'; it was apparently the information center of the whole town. I snorted. _This is more like what I expect out of Hoenn._ The structure was larger than most of the buildings, and on the porch, there were a number of newspaper boxes, along with what seemed to be restaurant menus.

The wooden door swung open, practically hitting me in the face and giving me a number of memorable splinters in my nose.

"Hello! Have you heard of BEAUTIFUL EGG?"

There was suddenly a girl in front of me, yelling excitedly in my face.

"Um."

"BEAUTIFUL EGG," she repeated, sighing. "Gosh. I couldn't imagine life without BEAUTIFUL EGG."

I was speechless. Another girl, seated at a table, petted her Zigzagoon and told me, with a sigh, "I'm trying to teach my Pokemon about BEAUTIFUL EGG, but to be honest, it's not working!"

I narrowed my eyes. _Am I missing something? What the hell is wrong with these people? _I walked up to an older man, who seemed a little more _there_, and was about to ask him about Steven, when he told me, "This whole 'BEAUTIFUL EGG' thing… I think I was watching a television program about it, the other day."

I was completely baffled now. I glanced around the building; posters of movies, plays, and popular quotes were hung around me, some of which I'd heard of, and some, not so much. _Beautiful Egg? What does that even _mean_?_

"Yowza! I finally figured BEAUTIFUL EGG out, everyone!" shouted a middle-aged man with a big grin. "It has something to do with 'SPORTS', right?"

The other members of the Dewford Hall exchanged hesitant glances with each other. I was still lost. The man seemed to realize that, alas, he had not yet figured out the mysterious BEAUTIFUL EGG, and looked very crestfallen.

"Um…" I began, glancing around nervously. "I'm just wondering… if anyone in Dewford knows anything about a man named Steven, who works for Devon."

Lots of people opened their mouth to talk, but I continued before they could. "No, I don't care about this 'Beautiful Egg' trend."

A number of them looked away, disinterested.

"Steven? Well, you came at the right time!" said a man that should be out working, or being with his family, or _something_ other than sitting in some beach shack talking about nonsensical things…! "He arrived in town three days ago, and has been in Dewford Cave, north of here, the whole time, according to numerous sources."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

I hurried out, Combusken in tow, as the room erupted once more into conversation over more things I couldn't care less about.

"What an… interesting… place," I muttered to myself as I hiked along the tree line of the beach. Off to my right, the sand stretched outwards, eventually giving way to the water, and, even further out, sat a smaller island thick with trees and vegetation. The further north we headed, the fewer buildings there were, which I was particularly happy about, now that I had the location of that letter's recipient.

_I wonder what it says, _I thought to myself, running my gloved hands along the front of the envelope, knowing that I shouldn't open it. _Everyone seems to know this Steven guy, so he must be pretty important member of Devon._

After some time, we neared the northern shore, and, sure enough, off to the left was an immense rock face with a gaping crack running down the middle. It was easy to miss, despite its size. I nudged Combusken and hurried over the cave's entrance. A cold breeze wafted out from the crevice; it was unmistakably a much larger, and deeper, cave than Rusturf Tunnel. _Hopefully, it has some different Pokemon, though._

My Pokemon and I confidently stepped inside, only to find a man standing in our way, just a few yards from the entrance.

"Are you a trainer?"

"Yeah," I replied, wondering if this was 'Steven'. He looked more like your average backpacker to me, than a businessman. "This is Granite Cave, right?"

The man nodded. "That is so; however! If you do not have a source of light, or a Pokemon that knows Flash, I recommend you turn back; it gets very dark on the lower levels, so I'm directing newbie trainers back to Dewford to get the Knuckle Badge that lets them use the HM Flash outside of battle before allowing them to explore the cave, out of my own decency!"

I shut my eyes and ran my hand through my bangs, trying not to let myself get too frustrated. _It's okay. We'll just lay low and train the rest of the day… _"Well," I responded with a sigh, "have you at least seen a man walk in here… uhh…" _Damn it, I don't even know that this guy looks like…! _"…He works for Devon, I think, so maybe he was wearing a business suit…?"

The hiker scratched his stubbly chin, humming to himself. "Well, I did see a fellow wandering around further into the cave earlier this morning that was wearin' what I thought was a black suit, if that helps any. But he was a young man, that one was! No businessmen here!"

I wanted to slap myself. _Of course, he didn't even enter the cave today. The guy at the Dewford Hall said Steven arrived in town _yesterday_. This hiker guy probably has the wrong person… but… _"Okay, thank you, anyways."

We began the trek back into town, Combusken giving me a troubled look. "Tomorrow, we'll head in there," I told it. "Let's just practice for the gym battle, for now."

It seemed to understand, and bounded on ahead of me.

Because Combusken was a Fighting-type, I decided to let Wingull go up against it. Poochyena had a disadvantage against Fighting, so I kept it on the sidelines. The Makuhita Brawly had had with him didn't look very aggressive, but I was sure it had some kind of hidden strength. And why was he surfing with it? It wasn't a Water-type. Perhaps what was just some kind of rigorous training exercise, or something…

"_Bus-KEN!"_

I glanced upwards at the two fighting Pokemon; Combusken was running towards Wingull at full speed, readying a Double Kick, jumping, bringing its leg back…

Wait for it…

"Go, Wingull! Give it your strongest Water Gun!"

The Fire-type's face turned into one of shock as a blast of water sent it flying backwards.

"Now, Combusken, dig your claws into the sand and catch yourself!" I stood up, watching more intensely.

The Pokemon did as commanded, and, in midair, shoved one arm into the sand below it. Its feet then slammed into place on the ground, though in turn, Combusken looked disoriented.

"Good job, you two!" I called. The sun had set completely now, and the night sky once again stretched out above us. "Let's head back."

* * *

"Amber! You're back."

The male Team Aqua officer slunk into the office the rest of the way and shut the door behind him before bowing slightly to the larger man seated in front of him. "Sir."

The opposing man held out one hand, and coolly said, "The Devon Goods? What about them?"

He could not look directly at his superior; his beady eyes were instead glued at the porthole on the wall to his left, and the ocean beyond. It was a clear day, but nonetheless the water stirred as though a storm were brewing. "I still need more time, sir. The man I assigned to the job, you see… He- he wasn't fit for it. It is my mistake. I will take responsibility-"

"Why?"

His breath hitched in his throat and he felt his body lock up. Even for someone as rebellious, as outlawish, as him, disobeying a man such as his boss – it was unthinkable. His eyes crawled upwards, meeting the opposing man's-

"You do understand," he said in a level tone, "the kind of affect this has on Team Aqua's image. Team Magma is constantly on our trail, and we've already suffered so many defeats at the hands of that Devon's kid." He then sat back, pressing two fingers to his temple in thought. A thick, but well-kempt, beard wrapped around the frame of his face and his wide jawline, giving him an almost feral appearance. After another moment of quiet, he asked his subordinate: "It wasn't him this time, was it?"

The subordinate blinked, though his expression was still one of furious focus. "No. But it was an isolated incident – it wasn't the cops. A girl, the grunt told me. Trainer."

Silence engulfed the room again as the seated man dove into his thoughts. The poor subordinate prepared for the worst – he was already tense, having failed twice, and the way his boss was tapping his fingers on the table just drove him over the edge with anxiousness. _That girl…! And twice! Who does she think she is? I'll arrange a separate force, an undercover one – one that will find her, and wipe her out so that she won't tarnish our image further-_

"Unbelievable," he finally said. "It looks like I'll have to step in, to avoid pushovers ruining the plan any further…"

The subordinate shifted.

The man then addressed him. "Find out who the Goods're being delivered to. No doubt they're part of the shipbuilding team, but I need a name. Then, we can launch a full-scale movement."

"Understood," hissed the subordinate before turning to the door.

"And Amber…" came an amused rumble from behind him, stopping him in his tracks. "Whoever the kid is that stopped you, don't go out of your way to take revenge. Focus on the mission. If they have a brain, they'll shut the hell up about it and stay out of our business. And if not… Well, we'll see what happens at Slateport, won't we?"

"Understood, sir."

* * *

**A/N**: Chilling, Archie! The scenes with Aqua are newly added. Originally, I only wanted to have May's perspective, but I think this adds more tension. Amber is a manga-exclusive character, but Aqua only has two admins in-game with small parts and I really want to give them depth without adding an original character or something. From what I remember about the R/S arc, Aqua does some pretty crazy stuff. In case it's confusing at all, the 'Devon Goods' (in this, at least) are a combination of blueprints/plans/files for ship parts and actual ship parts. Obviously they aren't too big since May is carrying them around.

"Stupid bird" is a bit of an endearing term. "BEAUTIFUL EGG," well, there isn't really a double meaning there… the word entry thing in RSE was just weird lol

Gym battle is next chapter, along with the first meeting with Steven. Reviews helped a lot and are greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8 - VS Brawly! Steven Stone

**A/N: **Whew, this was a long chapter and I had to edit a lot, but here it is (fashionably late, as usual orz)

Lots of battling in this one, and lots of May being… really awkward! Haha

* * *

**Chapter 8 – VS. Brawly, "A Big Wave in Fighting!" Steven Stone, the Son of Devon's President**

"So, what was it, 'May'? You wanna challenge me?"

I gripped Wingull's Pokeball in my hand and nodded curtly. Brawly's gym had put up quite the fight – aside from the new Pokemon like Meditite I'd fought, many of the battles had been in complete darkness. That was the feature of Dewford's Gym – fortunately, the chamber holding the main battlefield was well-lit.

"Haha, alright!" Brawly responded with a wide grin. "I'll warn you, though my Fighting-types n' I have trained in the roughest waves of Hoenn's waters. We're no joke, n' we're not some honors student, either."

He threw out a Pokeball, and a familiar Pokemon appeared on the other side of the floor, which, similar to the Rustboro Gym's, was made entirely of rock. Machop. It'd been used by all kinds of Karate experts across Johto in and outside of battles, and my father in particular had faced them often to improve his skills against his Pokemon's type disadvantage.

I tossed out Wingull's ball in response, and each Pokemon let out a wild battlecry.

"Begin!" shouted the referee. (I was almost positive he was one of the fanboys from the previous evening…)

Brawly's first two Pokemon were fairly easy to defeat, with a Flying-type on my side. Not to mention the training we did the previous night proved useful; Wingull was either dodging or countering all of Machop's – and Meditite's – attacks. It had recently learned Wing Attack, as well, which gave me a huge advantage in the fight. However, the Gym Leader's third Pokemon – the one from yesterday evening, Makuhita – took down Wingull with ease. The frail bird Pokemon had been tossed right back around out of its Wing Attack and into a wall from a deadly move Brawly called Vital Throw. I frowned as I returned it to its ball and tucked it in my bag, and without losing my focus, brought out Combusken's Pokeball.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, now, little blue! My Makuhita's the core of my team – the undertow that'll take you down, if you don't push harder!" The leader teased from across the room, placing one hand on his hip.

I grimaced and pulled out the Pokedex. _Better late than never…_

"_Makuhita, the Guts Pokemon. Makuhita has a tireless spirit – it will never give up hope. It eats a lot of food, gets plenty of sleep, and it trains very rigorously. By living that way, this Pokemon packs its body with energy."_

_Damn, _I thought, clenching the Pokeball in my hand. _If Combusken can't get this done quickly, Makuhita might just outlast it in battle completely…_

"Makuhita, hit 'em with an Arm Thrust," he said casually as soon as my Pokemon reappeared. The puny, friendly-looking thing leapt forward in response, bringing its hand down towards Combusken's head.

"Counter it with a Double Kick!" I ordered.

The attacks clashed, and I could have sworn I saw the rock beneath the pair crack. After a second both Pokemon scooted away from each other, and then continued. "Double Kick again!" I shouted. "Faster!" I wanted to get the Gym battle done as soon as possible – _after all, I have to deliver the Devon Goods!_ I could feel the heavy box of items in my bag. They were almost like a weight, a reminder of the experience with Aqua, a reminder that I had more to do than Gym battles. "Another one!" The Pokemon's blows continued to meet, growing more and more intense, pushing each other to the limit.

"Arm Thrust!" Brawly kept responding, hands in his pockets. He seemed more interested in watching me than he was in the battle, however, and at one point, I met his gaze – it still had that lazy, carefree coolness to it, but there was something else present too. His eyes were narrowed. Was it… _scrutiny_?

My mind flashed back to the battle with Roxanne, and suddenly I lost my focus.

And Brawly took the chance. "Arm Thrust!"

Combusken glanced back at me, awaiting orders, but I was too late and could barely bark out a "B-block it!" before Makuhita closed in. My Pokemon obeyed, crossing both its arms above its head and holding back the Arm Thrust to the best of its ability. But it couldn't – not for long. "Now, Ember!"

"Move back, Makuhita!" Brawly called out, sounding a little louder. The Pokemon hopped in the opposite direction, just barely in time to avoid getting its face singed.

"You're pretty hot-headed, little blue! But you gotta learn to appreciate balance more. The stronger the wave, the bigger the crash."

The grinding of my teeth probably echoed through the cave-like arena. _What's with these ocean metaphors?!_

"Bulk Up, Makuhita!"

Much to my surprise, the tiny Pokemon seemed to grow to two times its normal size and flexed its terrifying muscles. I raised an eyebrow.

"Combusken, use Ember again."

The Pokemon shot its flames out once more, this time from further away.

"Arm Thrust it, Makuhita!"

Sure enough, the feisty little Pokemon's attack struck Combusken's and blew the flames to either side, rendering them completely harmless. I cursed under my breath. _Now what?_

"_Combus-ken!"_ my Pokemon squawked at me, waving its big arms back and forth, as if telling me not to give up yet. I sighed lightly. _You're right. We still have…_

"Your move," I told him.

He grinned, as if he saw right through my plan. "Sand Attack, Makuhita."

Dirt and sand was sent flying into Combusken's face, effectively preventing me from launching a decent attack. The Pokemon's lowered accuracy would make close combat dangerous for it. _But I can still…_

"Get the sand out of your eyes, Combusken! Hurry!" I ordered, with faked urgency.

Brawly saw the chance, and took it, calling for his Pokemon to use Bulk Up again, and then launch its strongest Arm Thrust. "Here it comes! The big wave, ahah!"

Makuhita charged at Combusken. I waited, and waited, and waited, and sweated, boy was I nervously sweating, and then…

"Now, use Peck; it's right in front of you! _Combusken_!"

Combusken leaped forward, putting its complete trust in me, and drove its beak directly into Makuhita, who had gained an incredible amount of momentum at this point.

The Fighting-type Pokemon fell to the floor and was no sooner recalled by its trainer.

I approached Combusken, who was still walking around in circles blindly, stifled a laugh, and recalled it. "Let's go get you washed up, you stupid bird."

"Ahaha, that was gnarly!" came Brawly's deep voice. "You definitely deserve the Knuckle Badge! I didn't see that one coming!" He sauntered up to me and held out a blue badge shaped like a boxing glove. It gleamed under the Gym's artificial lights. "You totally swamped me, little blue, like a massive tidal wave hidden between a bunch of little ones."

I hardly understood what he was getting at, but took the words as compliments and accepted the badge. "Thank you. Oh, by the way-"

"Hahaha, time to go surfing again!" Brawly tore off his shirt and ran right past me, completely blowing me off. I stood there for a minute, blinking, before scowling and running after him.

"H-hold on!" I shouted as I left the gym. Finally, he heard me, and turned around, eyes wide. "Huh, what is it, little blue?" A grin suddenly spread across his features. "You wanna learn how t' surf, don't you?"

I sighed – Brawly truly was unable to read the atmosphere. "N-no, thank you, I'm just looking for someone, and, well… since you're, you know, the Gym Leader here, I was wondering if… you've seen him…?"

He walked back over to me, setting the surfboard he'd been holding against the wall of the Gym. "Huh? And who'd that be? I know almost everyone that comes through here, haha!"

I reached into my pocket, fingering the small sheet of paper nervously and glancing at the surfboard. "His name is Steven, I think. The President of Devon Corporation told me to deliver something to him, and that he was currently at Dewford."

Something unreadable flashed in Brawly's eyes, and he held a bewildered expression for a moment, before grinning absently again. "I haven't seen him, or caught word of 'em, but from what I know about the guy, my guess is that if he _is _here, he'd be in Granite Cave, up north a bit, little blue."

I still had no idea why he was calling me "little blue", but by now I was used to it. "…Granite Cave, huh..?" _That's the one place I haven't fully explored yet… And it's where that other person pointed me to… I have the badge how, and it's still early, so I guess I'll get started._ "Thank you."

Shortly after starting for the Pokemon Center, I heard him call out, "Hang on, lil blue!"

I shifted my gaze back around as he jogged towards me. I could tell why he was popular with the girls, here at Dewford, but that had nothing to do with my Pokemon training, of course, so-

Combusken squawked.

"What's someone like you got to do with a guy like Steven, anyways?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. Three of his possi members then appeared out of thin air.

"Wow, this girl's still trying to find _Steven_?" "Ahaha, that's embarrassing." "Hey, she better not be hitting on Brawly!"

I stuffed the letter further into my pocket. The last thing I wanted to do was tell more people, _especially _people likely to gossip, about what had happened with Devon, Team Aqua, and I. "I… told you, uh… President Stone told me to bring him something."

The group of them looked a little dissatisfied. I wondered if Brawly knew this 'Steven' personally, and why a bunch of beach girls cared about some Devon businessman. As I entered the Pokemon Center and dropped off Wingull, I snickered to myself, imagining what it'd be like if that Shroomish guy I'd saved had a fan club or a big following like 'Steven' apparently did.

* * *

Granite Cave was, as I'd imagined, much larger than Rusturf Tunnel. The ceiling rose so high that I couldn't even spot the stalactites that were probably hanging on the top, and it was dark; the hiker near the entrance had still been guarding it, and, after showing him the Knuckle Badge, he admitted to actually being assigned to stand at the cave entrance by Brawly to advise travelers to first show their power at the gym before heading into the unlit area. He'd then handed me an HM for a move called Flash, which I accepted, though not without a little bewilderment. I wondered why everyone was being so generous to me. _Is this what they call 'Trainer Etiquette'?_

Once we climbed down to the second level, I noticed what the hiker meant. I couldn't even see Combusken, who was protectively walking at my side. Luckily, I'd fought with and caught a strange little Pokemon called Sableye on the first floor, and taught it the HM Flash before moving too far into the cave.

Once it lit up the area around me, the three of us advanced. My head pounded, and I, ever so slowly, grew frustrated. How in the world was I supposed to find someone in a place like this?! Calling out his name would be an option, but that would sound a little suspicious – not to mention, it might wake up some kind of horrible cave-dwelling Pokemon. My mind flashed back to a few years ago, when there was a news story on TV in Johto about a man getting trampled nearly to death by a Dunsparce pack in a place called Dark Cave, after trying to listen to his own echo. _Yeah, not happening._

It was right when I was about to lose it and call Mr. Stone when I tripped over some kind of rock and fell flat on my face. _Oof! H-how did I not see… Urgh!_ Cursing, got to my feet and leaned against a wall. Unfortunately, Running Shoes were no substitute for hiking boots. My toes throbbed. _Mom won't let me forget this one… _There was a small cut above my eye, but other than that, I was fine, if not a little winded.

Suddenly the rock began moving. I squinted. Yeah, _moving. _It wasn't just the artificial light made by Sableye – that rock was _white_. Bone white. It moved more and more, and then two angry, bright-blue spheres were staring into my cloudier, dark blue ones. I heard Combusken growling. Without breathing, I pulled out my Pokedex while raising my eyebrows in surprise:

"_Aron, the Iron Armor Pokemon. Aron has a body of steel. With one all-out charge, this Pokemon can demolish even a heavy dump truck. The destroyed dump truck then becomes a handy meal for the Pokemon."_

I smiled and held up both of my hands. "That's kind of intense, there, Aron. I'm sorry for tripping on you…!"

It growled, and I remembered that this was a _wild _Pokemon, not some trained one like Combusken. Before I knew it, it was charging at me, and Combusken was in action, kicking it down the narrow passage we had been walking in.

"W-wait, Combusken! I don't think we should anger this guy…"

But it was too late. Sableye and I watched in exasperation as the two engaged in an epic battle. Aron was furious because its nap had been interrupted, and Combusken was furious at the fact that another Pokemon had the nerve to attack its trainer. It was quite the heated fight; Aron seemed to be able to see and maneuver fine in the darkness, but every time Combusken would use Ember the ground and walls would fill up with a rich red-orange light. I sighed, and took over, calling out commands.

The more I observed the wild Pokemon, though, the more I began to warm up to the idea of catching it. Sure, it had a bit of a temper, but its typing, according to the Pokedex, was Steel and Rock. I didn't have Pokemon of either of those types yet. And, honestly, Aron was cute.

The Pokemon was eventually weakened, though it took a lot of time. It seemed to have a very high defense stat, and could easily take any of Combusken's physical attacks. Ember took a toll on it, though, when it hit_. That combination sure is unique…_

"Combusken, stop!" I finally ordered, pulling out a Timer Ball from my bag. I eyed it meticulously. I'd received it back in Rustboro City, and apparently, it was a newer Devon product that was more likely to catch a Pokemon the longer you were in battle with it…

I took in a breath. The beaten-up Aron looked confused, and paused long enough for me to throw the ball, and…

_Click_!

Combusken gave me a look of dismay, as if I'd betrayed it, but I only grinned, picked up the ball, and carried on.

* * *

Even though the battle revived my confidence, it began to falter as we carried on with no luck in our search for Steven. And even worse, we were _lost_, hopelessly lost. Combusken didn't know which way was out, and Sableye wouldn't even communicate with me; it just kept shooting those rays of light out of its jewel-like eyes, like a machine.

I sighed, for the umpteenth time that day, and sat down on a boulder. My stomach growled, and both of my Pokemon cooed in agreement.

_Ping, ping, ping…_

_Where could this guy be? And what's he doing in a cave, in the first place, anyways…?_

_Ping, ping, ping…_

Combusken straightened. I frantically glanced around.

_Ping, ping… Ping…_

That strange noise… like someone hitting a dining glass with a spoon... _What is that?_ It was muffled, but still audible. And I certainly wasn't imagining it. I nodded at my Pokemon and got back to my feet. We treaded lightly, listening and following the noise. It grew louder, and louder, until…

"Over there," I whispered to Combusken and Sableye. Yellow light was pouring out from a small crevice in the wall a few yards away. The pinging had stopped, but I now heard footsteps. I called Sableye and Combusken back into their Pokeballs and crept towards the entrance; it was big enough to fit just one person, almost like it was man-made, and then I was stepping through it, and…

_A person! An actual person! Incredible!_ I thought as I gazed at an aged man standing at the wall directly across from me. He seemed to be… digging for something? Oh, and there was the source of the pinging – a very small pick, probably meant for precision, lying at his feet. Somehow, the man hadn't noticed me entering, which was strange considering how loud I thought I'd been. _He must be getting hard of hearing._ Next to him sat an Aron, similar to the one I had just caught, though much milder. It seemed to notice my entry and got to its feet.

The room itself was small, but well-lit; there was a makeshift torch lying next to the entrance, and a fancy oil lamp on the other end of the room, providing enough light for one to be able to prospect and mine gem_s_, if that's what they desired to do. My shadow rhythmically danced across the layers of surrounding me.

I shoved my hand in my pocket and pulled out the letter, fiddling with it. _It's about time. _I then approached the man, who, in the dim light, I noticed was wearing a casual black suit. I still wasn't sure about his age, what with that grayish hair, but nonetheless I was almost positive this was the man President Stone sent me to look for. _Who else would be wearing a suit, anyways?_

"Uhh, excuse me? Are you… with… Devon, by any chance?" I tried to sound as formal as possible, but I still had a lurking suspicion that I didn't have the right person.

The man straightened and turned around. _Huh?! What the hell? He's not an old man! _Despite his apparent hearing problems and mop of gray hair – which, closer up, really was more of a whitish-slate color, than flat-out gray – he looked no older than Brawly. He definitely didn't have the appearance of an office-dwelling businessman, to say the least, despite the fancy suit and scarlet cravat. He stared for a moment with a dumb look on his face, before replying in a scratchy voice, "…Yes. My name is Steven Stone. Who are you?"

I glanced at the Aron at his feet, which still looked pretty hostile. Its protectiveness almost reminded me of Combusken. "Erm, my name is May...? The Dewford Gym Leader, Brawly, told me I could find you here…?"

For some stupid reason, I momentarily forgot about the letter in my hands.

His stoic expression softened a bit, and he looked around him at all the mining tools and colored stones. Laughing nervously, and then clearing his throat, he told me, "Well, you must be wondering why _I'm_ hidden in some cave like this, then, digging, right? To be honest, I travel around a lot and collect rare stones. It's become a sort of hobby of mine." He met my gaze again. "You must be a Pokemon trainer, then, right?"

I nodded, and to be honest, felt a little bad for judging the guy so harshly earlier. _At least he doesn't seem as formal as Mr. Stone and Shroomish guy. _"Well, that's a cool hobby, anyways. You don't have to explain yourself." _If I were stuck working for Devon in Rustboro, I'd want to escape, too… though, a cave isn't real my ideal place._ I crossed my arms and eyed the pile of rocks. Many of them glittered in the lantern's light. "Besides… you must have quite the income, digging up that many rare items, right?"

Steven looked at me with a confused expression, as though I were missing something, and then replied, "Well, I don't really sell them..."

"…Oh!" I suddenly exclaimed, remembering the letter. "That's right." I held out the crumpled piece of stationery to him. "The President of Devon Corporation – Mr. Stone – told me to deliver this to you- _w-wait_…"

Mr. Stone. He said his name was Steven _Stone_, right…?

He took the letter from me, flattening out the wrinkles – hey, it wasn't my fault! – and began reading.

Meanwhile, I had an epiphany. Mr. _Stone… Don't tell me… the suit, the fact that he doesn't _sell _all these valuable stones… Holy shit! Don't tell me this guy is-_

"Hm, I see." He stated, voice tight. "My father could have just called me on the Pokenav, though…"

I almost screamed. Luckily, Combusken had quietly escaped from its Pokeball, and it jabbed me before I could make an even bigger fool out of myself.

"Oh, you're the President's son! Sorry about the bad shape the letter's in!" I said robotically.

He glanced back over at me, crumpling up the letter again and throwing it into the oil lamp resting on the ground. I watched in horror as it burned into nothingness. "It's fine. You deserve a thanks, though. I'm sure saving my father's employees and trekking through a place like this was a lot of trouble."

_Huh? The letter… mentioned that? _"Here, it's a TM for my favorite attack, Steel Wing. It's not much, but since you're a trainer, you'll find it handy at some point."

"Oh! Thanks," I mustered, accepting the TM – again, with this Hoenn generosity! – and fitting it into my bag. Combusken watched everything warily, especially the Aron. I nudged the Fire-type with my shoe as if threatening to call it back into its ball again. _This is the heir to Devon, you stupid bird! Behave!_

Steven apparently noticed this, and laughed lightly. "You know, I think you and your Pokemon there have a lot of potential. You could become the Pokemon League Champion one day, if you trained hard enough."

…_What?_

I probably looked silly, unintentionally giving him an incredulous look. _What- Champion? Is this guy serious? _"I, um… Thank you…?! I'm taking up the Gym challenge right now, but really…" I rubbed the back of my head. "The League Champion? That's… a bit of a long shot… ahah…" _Favorite attack?! This guy must not know the first thing about Pokemon! Combusken's just a little twerp! And I only have three- no, four- other Pokemon!_

He grinned. It was a childish one, almost like he were recalling a memory. "Well, I used to think that, too. Well, since we've both gotten to know each other a little, let's go ahead and register one another in our Pokenavs."

I agreed and pulled mine out, though I really wasn't sure what the heir to Devon thought was so significant about some mediocre Pokemon trainer. Unless… had the letter said something about my involvement with Team Aqua? Even then, I couldn't imagine what the President's son would want to do with that. They were a criminal group, not some kind of rival company you could negotiate with. Did they want to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't hand over the Devon Goods to Aqua? Or was it more protective? I took another look at Steven as he typed in my number; his expression remained blank, but there was just a bit of worry there, too. If the letter was so important that its message couldn't be communicated by phone, and that the messenger had to be someone like me and not an actual Devon employee, _and _that he'd burned it up after reading it, it must have had some sort of important information in it.

I was left to guess what that information was.

"…Well, I should probably hurry on. See you later, May," he told me, picking up his supplies, and reviving the formality that the exchange had begun with. However, much to my surprise, Steven then gave me a friendly nod as he left, further confusing the formal tone. I was reminded of Mr. Stone and his quirky phone call in Rustboro, and barely contained a puff of laughter at the similarity of their gestures.

I was left alone with a single torch lying near the entrance to the cavern. The dim light of the oil lamp got smaller and smaller before vanishing. _Team Aqua… Are they tied closer to Devon than I thought? …What did that letter… say? What does Steven know?_ Curiosity clawed at my heart, and I felt the Devon Goods again weighing my bag down.

Combusken eventually squawked and pulled on my leg eagerly, and I sighed at it, letting my worries fade for the moment.

"Yeah, okay. We'll go get you some food now, you stupid bird."

* * *

My stomach was roaring by the time I made it back to the center of Dewford Town, and food was my top priority. I loafed over to a small ocean-side shack that sold traditional Hoenn food, deciding to treat my Pokemon for once - they were probably sick of granola, at this point.

I had just plopped down at a seat when some familiar voices caught my attention.

"So, what, he _was_ here?"

"Dunno. It might've been him."

"Ohh, I can't believe we missed him!"

"That's so rad."

Yes, I recognized them now. They were the voices of those people Brawly hung out with, that were laughing at me for whatever reason earlier today. I glanced casually over my shoulder; there they were, a few tables back from me, eating some kind of seafood dish I didn't recognize.

"I can't believe that chick was looking for him, though."

"Yeah, haha."

"I'll bet you anything he just ran off as soon as he caught sight of her."

"Probably! My friend said she found him once, and as soon as she called her friends over to get autographs, he bolted."

I narrowed my eyes, and my grip on the glass of soda tightened. _They're talking about me, aren't they…?!_ I had half a mind to turn around and tell I had actually had a conversation with Steven Stone, as weird as it was, but I knew it wasn't a good idea. My dad in particular had advised me to always stay level-headed in this type of situation, but it was challenging.

Combusken had stopped chowing down, and was now clenching and unclenching its claws in agitation.

"Who does she think she is anyway, right? She beats Brawly once, and then thinks she's ready to go fight the _Champion_?"

…_Huh?_

"Yeah. Plus, she's pretty inexperienced, for her age. I saw a little toddler the other day with better Pokemon than her."

"But still, it's people like that that probably made Steven Stone so reclusive in the first place, right? I heard he stays cooped up in caves for weeks at a time."

"Yeah. I wish he'd at least stopped in Dewford, so I could get him to sign my-"

_I must've misunderstood something – they mentioned the League Champion. And what do a bunch of… partying teenagers… find so interesting about the son of the head of Devon? It's just a big corporation._

"Yo, guys!"

"Hey, Brawly."

"Huh? Heya, little blue, s' that you?"

I straightened and turned around. _Oh, no, that's not…_

Brawly, complete with his crazy hair and lazy grin, was standing by the counter, ordering food. "So, did you find Steven?"

Queue the snickers from the other table.

"I-uh… Yup."

The group was a little surprised, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that they were still giggling. "What'd he say?" one of them cawed.

I glanced at them momentarily, before looking back at Brawly. "I delivered what I needed to deliver. That's all. I don't think he'd want me telling random nobodies about professional business relating to Devon Corporation." I then took a sip of my drink in the most sophisticated of ways.

Brawly chuckled gingerly as the people at the table gawked and chirped back and forth to each other in hushed tones. "Well, I'm just glad it worked out. I wasn't sure if you actually needed t' see him or if you were just some fan, and he's technically my superior, so I didn't wanna piss him off, since he's probably holed up like that to _avoid_ that kind of attention, y'know?"

'_Technically my superior'? I wonder what that means, _I pondered, eating some more of my food – _Wow, I'm hungrier than I thought I was.._. _Well, I probably shouldn't ask, because then I _would _sound like the kind of fan those guys are describing…_

"May! Hello, lass!" came another familiar voice, and off to my right I spotted Mr. Briney bouncing up the beach towards the restaurant. Peeko flew about its trainer's tanned, bald head excitedly. "Yer ready to leave, now, aren't ye?!"

I swiveled around in my chair, taking one last bite of my meal. I'd practically forgotten about Briney and the boat. He came to a stop in front of the bar, panting heavily, and I was a little concerned for his health. "Yup! I'm all set. I just finished the Steven errand… are we leaving right now?" I questioned, hopping off the chair and setting some money on the counter.

Mr. Briney nodded vigorously. "There's going to be an incredible sunset over the water soon, and if we leave now, we might be able to see it!"

My eyebrows shot up. "The sunset…?" I smiled, just the tiniest bit, and grabbed Combusken. "…Okay, let's go, then!"

Mr. Briney and Peeko both perked up in glee. "Fantastic! Onward, then! Let's set sail, Peeko dear!"

I practically had to sprint to keep up with the two of them as they took off. Somewhere behind me, Brawly yelled an exasperated 'later!' I wasn't sure why I was so excited to see this sunset the captain was so worked up about, but I bounded onto the ship nonetheless, Combusken wrapped around my neck like a scarf.

* * *

The boat rumbled and began moving forward once again, though this time, we moved east instead of south. It advanced past the overgrown island across the bay from Dewford, and at the same time, the sun leisurely inched its way towards the horizon. The boat eventually slowed down once we were in open ocean, and Mr. Briney emerged from the cabin, Peeko iconically perched on his shoulder.

"Off the stern, lass!" he told me, pointing back towards Dewford, which was now a small black smudge on the horizon.

I gazed expectantly as the sun dipped below the shadowy trees, imagining that Brawly and his unbearable gang were probably still back there, gossiping about this or that without a single care. I smiled. Dewford Town was strange, surely, but definitely not _bad_. It would make for good storytelling, for those back in Johto. Mr. Briney had been right about the sunset, too; the whole day, the sky had been clear, and now, it was cloudless, making for a beautiful transition from tangerine to deep blue. As it grew darker still, Combusken pointed out a number of stars beginning to appear far above us.

The air was salty, but not harsh or cold, at all, and the only waves present in the water little ripples that rocked the boat comfortably, like a mother rocking a child to sleep. My eyelids drifted closed.

Overhead, Peeko glided around in circles, apparently invigorated by the nice weather. Fortunately, Combusken was not seasick, and I eventually let my own Wingull out as well to enjoy the air.

I leaned against the railing of the ship and sighed. _Yeah… this is the life. Definitely, _I thought, glancing over at Combusken and then back towards the sky.

Once the sun had completely set, I turned around to see where Mr. Briney was. My eyes widened as I noticed he was lounging in the captain's chair, fast asleep. I didn't know how far away from Slateport City we were, and from my experience, the ocean tended to get rough overnight.

"_Gull! Wingull!"_ cried Peeko, pecking at its trainer's face. He woke abruptly. "Oh! Oh."

"Mr. Briney, sir," I started, "the sunset was amazing, but… how far away are we from Slateport?"

"Oh, Slateport?" Mr. Briney said with a chuckle. "It's right around the corner, if we just do this!"

I raised an eyebrow. _Right around the corner? The only thing I can see is Dewford, way back there…_

Mr. Briney waddled over to the boat's engine, fiddled around with it for a minute, and suddenly, with a lurch, the boat was flying forwards, I was tumbling across the floor of the ship. Mr. Briney laughed maniacally, Peeko perched on his shoulder, while posing on the bow of the ship.

"_C-COMBUS! BUSKEN!"_ squawked my Pokemon in shock.

"I KNOW!" I agreed.

The water was a blur of blue and cyan, now. The boat slid over it with ease. After a minute or two, I got used to the ridiculous speed, and, with an uneasy lump in my stomach, got back to my feet. Combusken was still flapping in the wind like a flag, holding onto the railing with just one claw, and I quickly returned it to its ball before it became the world's first chicken to attain flight.

I was half tempted to ask Mr. Briney if he was… okay… in the head, but just then, in the distance, a sand bar of some sort came into view, followed by the skyline of a city. _Slateport…? It's Slateport!_

* * *

**A/N: **Again, 'stupid bird' is really an endearing term. Writing the antics between May and Combusken is fun.

The Brawly battle... As for this, it isn't as detailed as the last Gym battle because it isn't the main focus of the chapter, but I hope it wasn't too boring despite that. Brawly's a pretty cool guy.

So is Steven, who is IMPOSSIBLE to write. What's his deal? Suave or awkward? He's obviously a bit of an introvert, but I wouldn't say he's famous enough to have paparazzis following him around. Maybe in Unova. Anyways, _headcanons_ aside, May doesn't realize he's the Champion, since she's from Johto and all, but he'll play a big part in the story, like he does in the manga, sort of. I wish they told you what was in the letter in-game, but as far as this story goes, it was probably relating to Aqua and their movements and the Devon Goods and eventually May, and then why it wasn't the usual guy delivering them, etc. But Steven's intentions are still very foggy right now, so we probably won't find out what they are until later.

Slateport next chapter, and you-know-who, of course, dun dun _dun_.


	9. Chapter 9 - Aqua in Slateport

**A/N:** Thought I wouldn't update the day the corocoro scans came out? Guess again… This chapter is pretty late, so sorry about that. Thanks a bunch for the reviews!

I'm not sure how to feel about some of the designs but I'm sure I'll warm up to them. Maxie's and Archie's urk me a little but Steven's tho... and I'm loving the grunt designs, too. May's and Brendan's are cool too. It's a good thing Brendan is finally wearing clothing fitting of a tropical region, hah…

The fic will still follow Ruby and Sapphire's story and characters and w/e and not the remakes. Hoping they don't change it too much with the whole Prehistoric thing and the admins getting all shifted around (Tabitha? what happened) and Mega evolution being a story thing, but I still can't believe they're getting remade anyways

So, here we are at Slateport and the first major Aqua encounter. There's actually an official vocal version of the Slateport theme that's sung in Japanese and sounds really nice. As far as music goes I'd also probably recommend Regirock's Olivine City remix?

What else... there's a bit of a language warning here, but that's about it.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Team Aqua Encounter at the Slateport Oceanic Museum!**

Somehow, Mr. Briney had managed to slow down the boat before we skidded onto the beach and injured more than a few late-night partygoers. I hopped onto the sand and gave a quick wave to Briney, who was apparently heading back to Dewford for one reason or another. He gave his usual cheery good-bye and told me he'd be there if I needed to cross the sea again, before setting off.

I turned towards the land. It was completely dark now, and the moon sat high over the skyline ahead of me. Bonfires spotted the beach here and there, and further back, the city ahead was twinkling with life. Despite how late it was, the breeze coming off of the ocean behind me was warm, and… nostalgic...? _It reminds me of Olivine City, already, _I thought to myself.

"The Devon Goods," I muttered with a shake of my head, letting Combusken out of its ball. "That's my first priority. Then the Pokemon Gym – if there's even a gym here. Maybe if I check…"

I whipped out the Pokenav. The light stung my eyes and illuminated the rotting wood of the pier around me, and I squinted. _Let's see… Map. _I clicked open the application, and then zoomed on Slateport City. A small blue box popped up with a description inside: "_A bustling coastal city known for its markets and sea ports._" _Sure does sound like home, _I mused. Unfortunately, on a list of the city's attractions, there was no Pokemon Gym.

I frowned. _Well, that's okay, I guess… I'll just focus on the Devon Goods, then._

Combusken yawned.

"Yeah, you're right," I murmured, closing the Pokenav and gazing up at the brilliant city ahead. "Let's just get to the Pokemon Center and call it a night…"

* * *

Sunlight flittered through the window opposite me and a single warm stripe of yellow ran up the side of the bedroom and right over my eyes. With a groan, I woke up like it was any other ordinary morning, but as soon as I opened up my Pokenav to check the time, I realized why I felt so well-rested.

"Eleven o'clock!" I exclaimed. Combusken jolted awake with a chirp. "Damn! We should get going, Combusken."

The Pokemon nodded, still a little weary from the previous day's traveling. I quickly fixed myself up and hurried outside.

* * *

The city amazed me. Compared to everywhere else I'd been – even Rustboro City – Slateport was massive, and must've had the highest population in all of Hoenn's cities. Tourists and townsfolk alike wandered the streets with big cameras hung around their necks and Pokemon perched on their shoulders. I had to shift and barge through throngs of people of all ages to get from place to place. And it wasn't just the land, either – the harbor off of the city's eastern district held hundreds of boats, and further out in the open ocean, huge cruise liners sat on the thin line between sea and sky. Between the sights and the sounds, my thoughts from Dewford about Team Aqua and Steven were all pushed to the back of my mind.

We took a good portion of the day exploring the metropolitan area of the city. I'd meant to head straight to the shipyard, but unfortunately, a troupe of merchants practically dragged me into the labyrinth of markets spread across the southwestern district. I ended up buying an excessive amount of stuff, with the money I'd earned from earlier battles, and thankfully, it was all apparently sent to my PC. The majority of it was furniture for something called a "Secret Base". I technically didn't have one, but they sounded nice, from what I heard from the vendors – little treehouse-sort of things that you could throw together on a route. I also picked up a TM for a move called Secret Power and stowed it away with Steel Wing, for the time being.

Once through the market district, I was spat back out onto the main streets. We pushed our way back into the Pokemon Center, deciding to take a break. A long one, perhaps, one that lasted until the streets cleared up a bit and it was actually possible to _get _somewhere without getting crushed between a pack of vacationing Kanto teenagers and a group of surfer dudes. I made a face of irritation just looking out the building's windows into the ocean of people and Pokemon. _Maybe they're all here for that 'Pokemon Contest' thing I read about._

* * *

Time crawled by. I took a short nap, read a number of informational brochures from one of the little stalls inside the Pokemon Center, talked to a group of Johto tourists, and played around with the Pokenav a bit, until around 2:30 in the afternoon. The main road, at least, seemed to have less traffic now.

"Come on, Combusken," I told my lounging Pokemon, Devon Goods in hand, "we've got to deliver these. I'm sure that guy – Stern, was it? – he's probably waited long enough."

Combusken squawked in agreement.

* * *

We were around halfway to where the Shipyard was located – the streets were clearer, now, too – when I stopped dead in my tracks. I felt Combusken run into my leg behind me and fall to the ground.

_No way… That can't be… That uniform is…!_

Off to my left, overlooking the waterfront, was the Slateport Oceanic Museum. I'd read about it in a pamphlet, but up close, it was even more majestic. The exterior was pure white, and the architecture was unique, standing out among the rest of Slateport's small, ordinary houses – around the perimeter were all kinds of marble columns and sculptures and plaques.

But what caught my eye wasn't the museum – it was the long line of uniformed men and women in front of it. Their voices were loud and they spoke carelessly, tossing words and cusses around, some spitting on the ground now and then, others leaning against the rope lines and fiddling with their bandanas.

_Team Aqua…?!_

I shook my head and shoved the Devon Goods into my backpack as fast as possible.

"It's time to do some reconnaissance, Combusken," I whispered, keeping my eyes glued to the courtyard outside of the museum where the goons were standing.

"_Busken_."

We slithered towards the group, blending in with the few remaining crowds – most of the people around the museum were gawking at the long line of Aqua grunts, and taking pictures. Whatever the team was up to, I wanted to know. I wasn't sure _why _I thought it was my business. _I guess that thing in Petalburg Forest really hit me…_ I thought to myself, though it was more than that; I was worried. I felt involved. This was a criminal organization; if something bad was happening at this museum… where were the police?

I sat down at a nearby bench, back turned to the crowd, and listened:

"Tch, why are we even paying admission?! We're Team Aqua!"

"Shut up! Don't disobey the boss! He's pretty damn terrifying when he's mad, lemme tell you…!"

"I don't even know what he even _wants _at a place like this, y'know?"

"I heard he was gonna show up today."

"Uhg, this sucks. We stood out a lot less when the streets were full o' people."

"This reminds me of when I used to camp out at video game stores to buy the newest hits…"

_They're _paying _admission?! _I thought, holding in laughter. Sure, my hands were shaking and I was _beyond_ nervous, but that was sort of…

"…Hey, you!"

That was it. I bolted. I didn't even careif the call was directed at me or not; I wasn't taking any chances. Plus, that voice sounded strangely like the one I heard in Petalburg Woods and Rusturf Tunnel.

I paced around Slateport for a while, trying to calm down and get my mind off the presence of Team Aqua in the city, and eventually arrived at the Shipyard. The main building, similar to the Oceanic Museum, stood out starkly against the modern skyline of Slateport. It was beat up and rusted here and there, and if it wasn't for the large amount of cars and boats parked around the facility, one would have assumed it was abandoned. Streaks of orange sunlight stained the building's roof and the surrounding lot of land.

With a deep breath, I hurried inside.

The Shipyard's interior was anything but aged – it was lined with shiny metal flooring, making it resemble more of a science lab than a warehouse, and intricate machines were attached to the walls, filling the main room with beeps and clicks and ticks of all kinds.

I cautiously approached a man sitting at a messy desk covered in blueprints. He mumbled incoherently to himself and shifted the papers around.

"Hmm… Maybe, if I put this over here- no, no. But this thingy-ma-bobber might just work if I… No! No, that won't do. _Grah_! This is so hard to make sense of!"

I contemplated walking away before he noticed me, but it was too late.

"Hi there, young miss! I'm Dock. Can I help you?" the man greeted.

I blinked. _Dock? …Hoenn. _"My name is May. I'm looking for a Captain… Stern? Captain Stern, yes. Someone told me I could find him here…?"

"Oh! Stern?" Recognition appeared on Dock's face. "Yes, I'm actually designing a ferry for him right now, but… Oh, wait, are those… the Devon Goods, in your hands?"

"Yup," I replied.

He glanced off to the side with an irritated look and placed one hand on his unshaven chin. "Hmm.. Well, Stern's out somewhere right now – I think he said he was doing some more research at the usual spot, like always – but I suppose you could go find him. I'm not really qualified to handle those, you see."

"Oh!" I responded, "Okay. Thank you anyway, Mr. Dock." _What the hell? I'm seriously getting screwed over here, aren't I…_

* * *

With a number of protests from Combusken, we were walking along the cobblestone streets of Slateport once more. The sun was dipping into the sea, now, and I silently hoped that this would all be over and done with soon, without conflict. After a few minutes, I reluctantly decided to ask someone about Captain Stern and where he might be; I'd done enough aimless searching for one day.

"Captain Stern? Well, he's the one that founded the Slateport Museum, so my guess is that you'll find him there!" an older man working outside the Shipyard told me with a small smile.

I froze. "The… the museum…!"

"Huh? Is there something wrong, miss?" he inquired with a worried expression.

"Nope," I replied after a moment. "I'm all good! Thanks!"

I immediately ran off in the opposite direction, trying to mask my fear. Something bad could be going down at the museum right now, and I'd wanted to just put it out of my mind, but…

I slowed down after my legs wouldn't carry me further and came to a stop. Combusken, who'd barely been keeping up with me, tilted its head in concern and gave a little chirp.

"I know, Combusken, I shouldn't run," I told it, gazing out at the ocean; we'd somehow ended up on a quiet peninsula next to Slateport's lighthouse. Some distance back, I'd left the metropolitan area and entered a more remote part of the city. I sat down atop a grassy ledge that fell right onto the beach and gazed up at the tower, watching its light go around and around, and wondered absently if there were an electric-type Pokemon in there powering it. The wind was picking up, too, and grass began brushing against my knees, and somewhere off to the left, cicadas were chirping. It was a shocking change in setting from the urban downtown districts.

"But, it's just… why did _I _have to get involved in something like this? And why would I _purposely _go somewhere where that 'Team Aqua' is obviouslytrying to do something? I was only planning on collecting gym badges, not fighting off some kind of… gang…" I flipped my Pokenav around in my hand absently. "And since Stern's at the Shipyard, there's no doubt that Team Aqua is there for the stuff I'm carrying_…_ Why isn't the police doing anything? Why isn't anyone doing anything, if they're as bad as I think they are…?"

Combusken chirped again and sat down next to me.

"Like, what if they put a hit on me, or something like that, you know? Plus, if Dad found out I was doing something this dangerous, he'd probably send me back to Littleroot. Or to a boarding school. Or to Johto. That wouldn't be too bad, though…"

* * *

The morning sun rose tiredly from the ocean. From where the two girls sat, one could have guessed it was coming from Cianwood City, but if you had a map, you'd probably lean more towards the mythical Whirl Islands being the bringer of daytime. It blanketed the foggy and rather mild air in warmth. Soon, it would climb high enough to peep through the weathered windows of the fishermen and sailors living along the coastline and wake them from their well-earned slumbers, but at the moment, it was resting on the crests of the faraway waves and dyeing the rocky cliffs beneath the girls' feet a warm pink. Only a few clouds were leftover from the storm from the previous evening, and even now, they were drifting further inland, away from the coastline.

The first girl had flowing hair that was practically meant for the breeze coming off of the water that just barely rustled it. Her eyes, lidded slightly in timidity, matched the color of her hair – a light, sandy tan. She gazed up at something behind her acquaintance – the lighthouse. It stood watch over the ocean and city as it always did. The faint glow coming from the top of the tower gave her a feeling of comfort and security. Her feet kicked back and forth across the edge; she had to be especially careful not to lose her sandal to the sea below again.

The second girl, in contrast, kicked her legs forward and backwards as though she were about to take off. Her eyes were a foggy blue, matching the color of the churning water she was gazing expectantly at, and though her hair was of a somewhat similar shade to the first girl's, it was shorter, and stuck out here and there – the wind only worsened this effect. She seemed like she was about to dive right off the cliff and into the ocean.

The first girl was speaking, though her voice was weak and the breeze would sometimes catch her words in midair and blow them in the opposite direction of who she was talking to. "…And, so, Ampharos stays up there all day and night. Its tail lights up, since it has so much Electric power, sort of like a light bulb, and I think that's how the lighthouse-"

"Wow, Electric, huh? I bet we could use against some of the Water-type Pokemon on the beach!" The second girl said, grinning and springing to her feet. "My dad told me Electric's super powerful against Waters!"

The first girl tilted her head reluctantly. "I-I dunno know about that… Amphy doesn't like to fight…"

The second girl pouted and sat back down, crossing her legs. "Oh, okay. Oh! How about we go see Amphy? I've never seen an Ampharos before!"

"I-I'm not sure…" The girl muttered. "My father usually doesn't let people in to see him… But, maybe if our dads talk he will!"

The other girl perked up hopefully before frowning. "W-wait… Aah, crap! Dad's still out on a business trip…"

The first girl's interest was piqued. "D-do you mean for the gym leader job?"

The second girl gazed back down at the water and spitefully threw a pebble off of the ledge. "Mm-hmm. He's in Kanto. The boat isn't gonna be back until later this week…"

"I-" The first girl stopped herself. She wanted to know more about gym leaders and what it took to become one – her ultimate dream was to run the Olivine City Gym. It would let her be close to Amphy while doing what she liked to do for a living – to meet new trainers, and to be with Pokemon. But she could tell her friend didn't want to talk about it anymore – she always seemed to feel down when her father was out on a trip. "Anyways, let's go watch TV. I think Professor Oak's show is gonna be on soon!"

The second girl nodded, adventurous smile returning to her face. "Yeah!"

With a new plan for the day, the girls bounded back into the streets and away from the coastline. Meanwhile, the glow of the lighthouse grew ever brighter, watching as the city started up its daily routine once more.

* * *

Combusken squawked loudly, almost in encouragement, and tugged on my arm. I snapped out of my thoughts and flicked it playfully back on its forehead.

"You're right. I shouldn't even be worrying about things like that, should I…?" I took a deep sigh, and then a grin made its way onto my face. "Besides, it's my journey, and my business. Dad doesn't have to know a thing!"

I winked at Combusken, who squawked back, and gave it a little high-five before hurrying off back into the city with renewed confidence.

* * *

The line of Team Aqua members was gone, by the time I returned to the museum's courtyard, at least. _They must be… inside, right? They couldn't have left, right? _I wanted to believe they had. It had been an hour or so since I'd first passed by them, all lined up. The museum would be closing soon. _Either way, I need to find Stern. _I stepped inside.

Passing by the museum's entrance made me feel puny – the entrance itself was magnificent, with a mural of some far-off place on the ocean right above the doorway and more of the marble columns on either side of it.

"Welcome," greeted one of the receptionists once I was inside. "Admission is 50P, please."

I fumbled around in my bag and managed to come up with the money. After that shopping spree, I was running pretty low... "Here."

"Oh, and please, no Pokemon in the museum. We're sorry, but it's for the sake of keeping the building sanitary," she chimed with a polite smile. For some reason, the lady seemed a little worn out, and her voice was taut.

Nonetheless I could see why that was a rule; the museum's interior itself was obviously very well-maintained. The tiling was a soft pale with a cross-hatch design, and the walls were decorated with many different types of artistic wallpapers. From the floor to the ground, everything was glossy and clean. I almost felt out of place in my dirtier, sporty clothing. The place definitely didn't hold the same atmosphere as an aquarium, which would be aimed more at kids, and more Pokemon-friendly.

Combusken looked immensely offended, crossing its wings and huffing, as I recalled it back into its Pokeball. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon enough," I told it with a half-smile, turning to walk further into the museum…

…and stopping.

_There they are._

Scattered across the first floor were at least at least thirty Team Aqua members, muttering back and forth in hushed tones and huddled around exhibits. I reached for Combusken's Pokeball, uneasiness stirring in my chest…

"AAAAAH! UAAAAAH! Stay away from me!" yelped the grunt closest to the entrance, and my gaze moved over onto him. I raised my eyebrows. "Y-you _are_ that girl!"

_That girl…? _I thought in dismay. _D-don't tell me they actually_ _have a hit on me?!_

I then realized that I recognized this guy. Undoubtedly, he was the Team Aqua grunt from Rusturf Tunnel. _That's a relief,_ I mused to myself with a half-smile.

The man glanced either way nervously, looking around at his fellow members, who didn't seem to care about the ordeal. "D-damn! This is totally gonna screw up our plans! W-why can't you just stay the hell out've our business?!" He straightened, and thrust one finger towards at me accusingly. "One day, _you_, you'll get what's comin' to you, you bitch!"

With that, he fled out of the museum like a frightened Zigzagoon. It was almost laughable, but the last part of his outburst managed to put me on edge. _Team Aqua… _my eyes roamed back across the room. _They really are… this big?_ I narrowed my eyes at the museum's entrance, almost wanting to chase after him. "Who are _you_ calling bitch?!"

I sighed through my teeth and picked up the TM that had flown out of his back pocket in his frenzy, sticking it in my bag. Ironically, I realized, it was for Thief.

_In any case, unless Mr. Stern is a member of Team Aqua, he couldn't be on this floor, _I thought, avoiding the suspicious glances of Team Aqua grunts sent my way now and then. They were a diverse bunch – some of them were in their late twenties, but a few were around _my_ age. They all wore the same blue and white outfits, and blue bandanas, tied around messy hair – not unlike my own. Some of them had tanned skin, and were rather muscular – the Hoenn natives, probably – while others had fairer skin and were scrawnier. The female members were distinguishable by their shirts, which cut off halfway down their chest and exposed their midriffs, and, on some of them, their tattoos and piercings.

_They're like pirates,_ I decided with a nod.

None of them were lashing out at me, however, and they seemed to be caught up doing whatever it was they were doing. I took this as a sign that maybe they weren't actually on the lookout for me. _Don't kid yourself, May! You're just another trainer, after all_! I hummed.

I took the flight of stairs in a nearby hallway up to the second level, overhearing a grunt complaining about how they wouldn't even be at the museum if it weren't for… something to do with Rustboro.

I gulped.

Fortunately, the second floor was deserted. I couldn't help but think that the amount of Team Aqua grunts randomly pouring into the Museum had scared the normal visitors off. _But not even a security guard…? That's kind of weird, isn't it? _

I surveyed the floor; off to my right were all sorts of intricate diagrams and models of submarines and ships, and to the left was a larger ship model along with some glass display boxes and futuristic-looking tubes holding different water samples inside. Standing in front of said ship was a solitary man wearing a simple lab coat, and holding a clipboard – definitely not part of Team Aqua – and I approached him hopefully.

"…Hm?" he turned from the model ship and removed his glasses. "Are you, perhaps, looking for a Captain Stern? That's me – oh! You must be the Mr. Stone's deliveryman, with the parts I've been waiting for, am I correct?"

I nodded. "How'd you guess…?" I muttered as I pulled them from my bag. "Here they are."

His face lit up upon taking them. "Thank you very much, miss! This is great. I can finally finish up that submarine, and get working on the expedition plans, and…"

Stern kept going on about the parts and their importance, while I sweated nervously. Team Aqua was _literally_ downstairs; shouldn't he be a little _quieter_, or, I don't know, try to get the hell out of here?! I'd accepted already that the Devon Goods were undoubtedly what they were after. Despite this, though, I kept quiet, awkwardly adding in "it was no problem"'s and "interesting"'s when they were needed. _I-I came this far! I can't just be a pushy jerk to him!_

As though my worst fears were being realized, there were then footsteps coming from the stairwell; heavy footsteps. Lots of them. Stern paused in his lecture, and he and I moved our gazes over to the doorway. My stomach lurched.

Two Aqua grunts rounded the corner and made their way over to us. _Maybe they're just looking around… maybe… nope. _I stepped in front of Stern protectively and grimaced, pulling out Combusken's Pokeball.

"Alright, Stern," one of them cawed, hands in his pockets. "The Devon Goods? Just slide them right over here, and we'll be done."

Stern was confused. "Huh? Who are you people? And… why would I just _give_ you the Devon Goods? No, how do you even know about them? Have you spoken with the Devon President? …Miss, are these friends of yours?"

I coughed. "_Mr._ _Stern!_"

The other one laughed. "Because we're Team Aqua! What our boss wants, he gets! Now toss 'em the hell over, and call off your guard dog there, while you're at it!"

Captain Stern gasped. "Team Aqua? …Eep!"

"Don't even think about it," I warned Stern, voice tight. He looked as if he was actually _contemplating_ whether he should give up the Devon Goods or not. "These guys are nothing but jokes, trust me. You're not in any danger."

Even as I said that, however, a bead of sweat ran down my neck.

One of the grunts frowned and stepped forward. "Fine, then," he spat, pulling out a Pokeball. "Carvanha, go!"

The man's arm twisted and his Pokeball flew into the air. With a flash, the fish Pokemon appeared in front of him, flopping awkwardly on the ground. I, in turn, tossed out Combusken's Pokeball, and out came my battle-ready Fire-type, kneading the floor in anticipation.

The grunt grinned knowingly. "Give it a Water Gun, Carvahna!"

A burst of water came from the Pokemon's mouth, drenching Combusken, who immediately launched its counterattack.

"Double Kick!" I ordered.

The aquatic Pokemon, clearly out of its terrain, was no match; Combusken punted it into a wall at first, and then, to make sure it was out cold, turned and kicked it right back into the grunt. A small tinge of confidence diluted the fear that had collected in my gut as I nodded approvingly at my Pokemon.

"Tch, damn it!" he hissed, recalling Carvanha and elbowing the other grunt. "T-the boss is gonna kill us if we don't get those parts! Do something, you!"

The opposite grunt, older and holding a more serious look, stepped forward and called out two Pokemon; a Zubat and a Carvahna. In return, I threw out Poochyena's ball. _A double battle, huh…?_ I thought warily. _I don't have as much experience with those… but if this guy's as good as the last one, I should be okay… _

"Carvahna! Give it a Water Gun!" he shouted. "And Zubat, Supersonic!"

I raised an eyebrow. _The same approach?_ "Poochyena, take the Water Gun for Combusken!"

The Pokemon dashed towards Combusken, but was interrupted by the Zubat, whose Supersonic hit right on target, throwing it Poochyena into confusion. Carvanha's deluge then, in turn, hit Combusken, who was already worn down from the first battle and cried out in pain. I gritted my teeth. With Poochyena confused, I might as well be one Pokemon down; I couldn't risk it hurting itself, or hurting Combusken, on accident.

"Poochyena, stay where you are…! Combusken, run towards Carvanha and give it a Double Kick!"

"Counter it with another Water Gun, Carvanha!"

Combusken darted towards the water-type, which blasted more water its way. "Now, quickly Combusken, jump into the air!"

The Pokemon obeyed, strong feet pushing it upwards. The grunt gawked before shouting out to his Zubat to attack again.

Zubat then soared towards Combusken, who was still flying through the air, preparing a Supersonic, but I was prepared. "Hit it with Ember, midair, Combusken! While it's close!"

Just as the Zubat was taking in a breath, Combusken let its own out, releasing burning hot embers into the Pokemon's mouth and onto its leathery wings. With a cry, the Zubat fell to the ground and was called back into its ball.

Before the grunt could make another move, I then commanded Combusken – who had landed _behind _Carvanha – and Poochyena – who had recovered – to attack at once, with Double Kick and Bite respectively. The water-and-dark-type was pummeled between the two of my Pokemon, and the grunt forced to recall it. However, just as I was about to cheer, Combusken, too, fell to the ground.

"N-no!" I ran towards it, whipping out the Pokeball, as well as Poochyena's. It had undoubtedly fainted, but… Carvanha hadn't even used an attack on it…! _What _was _that…?!_

I didn't have time to think it over, though, and retreated back to Stern's side while the two grunts fumed in frustration.

"Shit! The boss is gonna have our heads! A-and if he doesn't by some kinda miracle, Amber will!"

"And all because of this stupid bullheaded trainer that won't stay the hell out of our business!" He clicked his tongue and gave me quite the glare.

I frowned and opened my mouth, about to ask about this '_boss'_ and his intentions, when my question was answered. More heavy footsteps filled the staircase, but this time, it was a single pair of feet.

I gulped.

A towering man stepped into the room, looking a little less dim-witted than the grunts. His arms were folded behind his back, though by the looks of it, he was… _ripped_. The man strolled up to the two grunts, giving each of them an unreadable gaze, and they cowered in response. His air of superiority was so strong that even I felt it, and took a step backwards.

_Wait… is this guy… _I got a better look at him, and found that he was _definitely_ dressed nicer than your average Aqua grunt. He still sported the same signature bandana, but instead of the blue-and-white uniform, he wore sleek, black pants and a shirt of the same style that was half-open at the top, revealing some pretty scary muscles. Hung around his tanned torso was a beat-up chain necklace. Further down, clipping his shirt together, was a tiny, silver pendant; I recognized it as the same logo used on the Team Aqua bandana. The man's face was very rugged looking, as well, and reminded me of a shark. His wide jaw was lined with a scraggly beard styled the same way you'd probably see a pirate style his.

The man looked from the grunts, to me, to Stern, and back to the grunts, with two calm, dark eyes, before saying in an even voice, "I came all the way up here to check in and find out _why _in the _world_ you two were taking so long…" his voice gradually rose, becoming sharper and more dangerous. I shared a mutual shiver of fear with the two defeated grunts. "…and it's because some amateur _kid_ was _holding you up_?"

The grunts were unable to meet the man's gaze, but I held my ground, despite the waves of fear and anxiety rocking about in my stomach.

"Unbelievable… but that can wait."

The grunts sighed as the man turned his piercing glare onto me.

"I don't believe we've met, miss. I am Archie, the leader of Team Aqua," he addressed me, calm again. _So, I was right, then…? _His mouth moved in a strange way, as though he were holding himself back from yelling. Both of his hands moved from behind him into his pockets."I must be mistaken. You are… the same trainer that interrupted a grunt of ours while he was working in the Rustboro area, are you not?"

_H-how… does he know that…?! _I thought with alarm, but I didn't reply and tried my best to hold his gaze.

"I thought so," he muttered. "Well, I feel bad for you, really. You misunderstand the intentions of Team Aqua, as many do."

I narrowed my eyes. _Intentions…? Does he mean stealing precious information from important companies, like Devon…?_

"It's a noble cause, really. We only wish to expand the sea and the marine Pokemon habitat that it provides; this will, then, do good for all of Hoenn, Pokemon _and _people… For the entire world, perhaps." Archie hovered over to the model ship next to Captain Stern, who looked like he was about to wet himself. He placed a hand on the deck of the ship, and his little moustache pointed upwards as his mouth twisted into a smile. "All people… and all Pokemon."

I tried to say something, again, but I couldn't summon up my voice, so I just stood there, trying to look a little less like some random, harmless teenage girl and more like a hero of some sort. I was sure my "glare" just looked silly to someone as intimidating as him, though. _I don't know what_ _this guy's big idea is. Expanding the sea? What does that have to do with anything this 'Team Aqua' is doing? And how would that _benefit _anyone?! …How would someone even expand the sea, anyways? You can't just line up Water-type Pokemon and have them all use Hydro Pump, or something…!_

He sighed, and still using that faux-sophisticated tone, said, "Well, you must just be too young to understand. It's a shame. In fact, many people your age _have_ joined our ranks, still in that rebellious stage, wanting to help change the world. We _are_ activists, no more, you see. But, I suppose it can't be helped if you're too dim to realize the benefits of the expansion of the sea."

_What?!_

Something then changed in Archie's entire character. His formal, semi-polite personality had vanished, and a terrifying scowl formed on his face. One massive hand grabbed my collar and I was suddenly shoved against the wall, winded. "But listen: _do not _get in Aqua's way again. This is your last freebie. I don't care if you're some new trainer or the League Champion." He then let go, brushing off his shirt. "There'll be… consequences, if you do."

I struggled to catch my breath. My back slid against the wall until I was sitting down.

Archie gathered up the two disgruntled grunts and headed for the stairwell with a simple "Farewell!" and then he – and, I assumed, Team Aqua – was gone.

Stern rushed over to me. He appeared to finally have snapped out of his fearful daze. "Miss! Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," I mustered, waving off his help and getting back to my feet, "just a little winded, is all..."

He let out a breath of relief. "Whew, that was tense. Thank goodness the Devon Goods are safe and sound… But that Team Aqua, I don't know about them. I heard about their 'movements' and activism-like intentions, but the concept of oceanic expansion sure is suspicious…"

I nodded absently, gazing at the ship replica on the table. I realized then, with a bitter smile, that it was a model S.S. Anne, a famous cruise ship from Kanto.

"Well, now that I have these, we can finally start off on the expedition!" Stern said excitedly. "Here, take this TM as an expression of gratitude. You have made a very important, though indirect, contribution to the advancement of science, young one!"

Another TM was shoved into my hand, and before I could even react, Stern was gone with a quick "Excuse me!"

I felt lightheaded, and took a moment to collect myself before moving to put away the TM.

"…Team Aqua wants me out of their way, huh…?" I murmured, anger welling up in my chest. "'Noble cause'… Expanding the sea… This is all weird. But they definitely don't have good intentions, not if they're trying to rob some innocent guy like Stern... and that whole thing with Devon… that goes way past 'activism,' doesn't it…?"

I realized that I was talking to myself, and not Combusken, my usual conversation partner, and moped back down the stairs to the lower floor – which was no longer infested with Aqua grunts, fortunately. It was late and a cold breeze was coming off of the water, but I ignored it and wandered Slateport's outer streets for a while before eventually returning to the Pokemon Center and curling up under the fresh sheets. I finally dozed off with a false sense of security, and a new problem gnawing away at my conscious.

* * *

**A/N: **Note about the flashback – I wasn't going to put it here originally, and saved flashbacks for way later in the story (or I might have just removed them overall) but I think the lighthouse scene was a good spot for one and little kid-May is cute as hell. They're meant to shed more light on her character and especially the interactions between Norman and her (there aren't any in this chapter's flashback) but I can understand if it feels too OOC or OC-y or something and I was debating whether to include it at all. That is Jasmine, too. I can't get over the headcanon that RS protag and Jasmine were bros before the events of RBYRSE but sorry if it does seem out of place since I'm trying to stay canonical. I promise it won't play a big part in/won't affect the main story haha

Next chapter is also Slateport – this one was mainly focusing on Team Aqua and Stern. Also, Brendan might defy the odds and show up next chapter. Who knows.

Aqua's whole deal is very ambiguous both in public image and to May and she's supposed to seem conflicted about it. One side's telling her to live and that she has to play hero (cops? In the Pokemon universe? Don't play games with me) but the other side is saying 'mind your own business, this has nothing to do with you' (is it because of touchan? we'll find out soon enough)


	10. Chapter 10 - Slateport Shenanigans

**A/N:** Apologies for the long wait on this one ,,, got _very_ fussy with this chapter, and in the end it was getting too long so I split it up (this way, Chapter 11 will be out soon too). I practically rewrote it more than once.

Lots of ORAS updates in the past two or three weeks too – they look amazing so far.

Again, I appreciate the reviews a ton!

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Shenanigans in Slateport, Entanglement with Aqua**

"A-aah! This is more like it, isn't it, Mudkip?"

"_Kip!_"

Brendan stretched both of his arms and then sprawled out on his towel. Slateport City's beach had excellent weather today, and it was only going to get better, according to the forecast. The sky was clear, the sun was as bright and hot as always, and, of course, the beach life was nothing less than perfect. He yawned – the last couple of hours had been spent fluttering around the dunes, chatting up tourists and battling trainers. Slateport Beach was one of the biggest destinations in Hoenn, and attracted people from places all around the world. The sand was soft and cool and the ocean was a brilliant shade of cyan. Unlike the more remote Dewford, Slateport's waters were widely used for recreational boating rather than surfing.

He let out a puff of air in a sigh and rolled onto his back. Yes, the sun was extra intense, today – lazily, Brendan pulled out a pair of goggles from his bag and slung them over his eyes. The voices of other people carried over on the wind. There were two children playing in inner tubes off to the left, and an older couple bickering not too far behind him, and in the water there was a large group of college students he guessed were from a faraway region, by their accents.

_Oh, it's so nice out! _Thought the boy with a smile.

Suddenly there was a skidding noise, and sand was flung into Brendan's cheek, and then something cold rammed into his stomach, causing him to jolt upwards and his goggles to go flying through the air. They hit Mudkip in the head.

"Oof! What the…" he glanced down at his lap, where a volley ball now sat. "A ball?! Who the hell-"

"Sorry!" came an apologetic voice.

Brendan sat up further and glanced over past his bag to find a group of three or four girls his age dressed in some intense swimsuits standing there, looking concerned.

He wiped the bit of sweat from his brow and stood up. "Well, it's no problem!" His voice was thicker, now, but secretly the trainer was trying to catch his breath that the volley ball had forced from his lungs. He moved the ball underneath one arm, and, with the other, ran a hand through his dark hair. "Volleyball is quite the difficult sport, if I do say so myself." Brendan had never played volleyball in his life. "But, if I were the referee," he patted his abdomen and grinned, "I'd call that one a goal!"

The girls giggled at him, and Brendan chuckled along, completely ignorant of his mistake. Mudkip was at its feet now, barking angrily at its trainer for disrupting its sleep – the goggles were slung around its body and full of sand.

"Ha ha ha! I'm Brendan, by the way!" he held out a hand and they girls exchanged a glance before shaking it.

He continued his antics and played about with the volley ball for a little while, while not-so-inconspicuously admiring them – _they've gotta be from one of those faraway regions, I mean, look at th-_

"Hey! Isn't that that Steven Stone guy, over there?" one of them exclaimed, pointing over yonder.

A different girl gasped. "That is! Let's go see him!"

"Yeah!"

Brendan frowned before chasing after them. He held the ball up in the air. "H-hey, wait, hold on! Don't you want this back? I-I didn't even get your names!"

He followed the girls as they hurried towards what Brendan guessed was the only person on the whole beach not wearing a swimsuit. No, Brendan observed as he got closer, the guy was instead in full-blown business attire and dress shoes. He didn't look like he was overheated though, except for the fact that his jacket was unbuttoned. Brendan skidded to a stop behind the four girls, narrowing his eyes. The silver hair, the rings, the formal air he gave off… And the Skarmory standing alertly behind him, wings folded, steel feathers gleaming in the sunlight – _darn it,_ Brendan thought, _I should have brought my Pokedex! _… This was without a doubt the Hoenn League Champion, Steven Stone. Who _wouldn't_ recognize this guy up close?

* * *

"Let's go see him!"

Steven grimaced. He knew landing on the beach was a bad idea, but he hadn't had much of a choice – Skarmory had been exhausted, and he couldn't risk going into the city if Team Aqua was still around. But what he'd heard on the radio…

"_Apparently there was a massive gathering of the group Team Aqua at the Oceanic Museum! It wasn't until late at night that, according to witnesses, they all drained out of the building at once and disappeared. We don't know what happened, but there have been no reports of damage at the place. Museum founder Captain Stern tells us that he personally spoke to Team Aqua's leader, Archie-"_

He'd thought he was just overthinking, at first. The news report said Aqua had disappeared, come morning. But Steven also had prior experience with Aqua, and specifically, with the sly admin who'd been in charge of some kind of operation in Slateport. One thing led to another – the incident fit together like puzzle pieces. _It could have been that girl – what was her name, again…? Or another trainer like her. But my father said Stern called saying the Devon Goods were safe in his hands… So if _someone_ interrupted their plans… No, I'm probably just being paranoid. I have to keep moving._ He narrowed his eyes at a particular spot of the beach, and shifted. _But that…_

"Wow, I read a magazine article about you!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

Steven cast a cautious glance over at Brendan and the girls, taking a step back towards Skarmory. Of all the times… His eyes flicked back over to the spot, and then widened. The person he had been observing had now turned around, allowing him to make out the logo on the headwear he'd previously assumed was a swimming cap but, now, realized was a bandana. He was walking towards the boardwalk leading back towards the city. No, he was following someone. But the grass and dunes were in the way – who was it? It couldn't possibly be…

"Yo, pretty boy! Are you just gonna ignore these beautiful ladies here asking for your autograph?" The guy standing behind the group pushed himself between two of the girls and scrunched up his face in irritation.

_I don't have time for this…!_ Steven thought, eyes darting across the rest of the shoreline – people were beginning to notice the commotion and gaze curiously over in his direction. _Think, Steven…_

* * *

Finally, the guy accepted a sheet of paper from one of the girls and began signing it. Brendan relaxed a little, proud of himself, and smiled.

Then Steven Stone instead shoved the paper he signed into Brendan's hand, giving him a grave expression that threw the boy off. "Uh, this is for the girls, not me. But I guess I wouldn't mind, like, battling you-"

"There's a man over there, at the boardwalk. This logo is on his hat. He's dangerous. Please follow him – I have to leave."

The guy's Skarmory spread out its wings. Brendan cringed at the thought of mounting it in this crazy heat – especially when wearing only swimming trunks. Steven nonetheless backed away from them and hoisted himself up onto the Pokemon's back.

The boy's eyes flicked down to the paper, where there was a rough sketch of what sort of resembled a skull-and-crossbones on it, and raised an eyebrow. "Hang on, what?"

Steven's hazy eyes met his and he frowned. He seemed unbelievably stressed out, in contrast to the carefree, cheerful setting of the beach – he definitely wasn't kidding around. "I'm with Devon Corporation. You will be rewarded if you assist me here."

With that, the Skarmory hopped off of the ground, wings catching the breeze, and sped across the water and into the sky.

Brendan grimaced, scrubbing the sand from his hair and mouth. _Uhg! The nerve of that guy. Hoenn needs a new champion, I swear…_ He glanced back towards the group of girls, who were now stomping away and muttering angrily to each other. _Darn… Well, then again, money from Devon? That's pretty special…! _The paper in his hands wrinkled as Brendan clamped his hand around it. _Let's do this!_

The boy fluttered back over to his spot on the beach and grabbed his goggles and t-shirt, and then began sprinting towards the city, a confident grin on his face. His eyes flicked upwards; there was a silhouette of what looked like a hawk far above him, circling around and drifting on the wind. "What, is he checking to see if I actually do it?" he called with a laugh.

The boardwalk quickly came to an end, giving way to burning hot pavement – and unfortunately, poor half-dressed Brendan did not have his shoes. He began, instead, hopping awkwardly after the man in the blue hat. "Stooop!"

His target turned around. Sure enough, there was the symbol that Steven Stone had drawn, in the center of his bandana. His eyes flicked back and forth again before narrowing at Brendan, and then, the man was running at full speed in the opposite direction, shoving through a crowd of people.

"Hey! What-" Brendan continued dancing after the man. _Now_ he was irritated. All he wanted to do was know why the League Champion had asked him to stop him!

The chase continued, and Brendan found that the man was unpredictable – he'd run straight forward for a few blocks, pushing through throngs of tourists, glance back, and then take a random turn down an alley or sidestreet. But luckily, Brendan knew Slateport like the back of his hand, as his family had taken him here for vacation dozens of times when he was younger. And from the looks of it, the man was taking the exact same path that led to the city's Pokemon Center. _But why there?_

They rounded a few more corners. Brendan's feet felt like they were about fall off, and his breathing was growing ragged. He contemplated just giving up when they suddenly burst into a large square – the center of downtown Slateport. At the other end, across a few streets, was the Pokemon Center. People had begun parting the way for the man and Brendan, now, and he took up the opportunity, pushing himself forward one last time. The man, however, seemed to be slowing down.

_Huh? What's he…_ Brendan's eyes wandered into the crowds and eventually stopped on a group of people that appeared to be a news crew – one of them was holding a mic, and the other, a giant camera. The lens was pointing at him. A grin stretched across his face as he turned towards it and gave a great big wave. "Hey, I'm on TV! Hi, Mom, Dad- Oops!"

Brendan stumbled, and things quickly escalated until he was lying face-down on the pavement. _Oof…_

Meanwhile, the footsteps ahead of him picked up again. Defeated, Brendan brought his head upwards, watching the man go…

…_Who is _that_?_ From this angle, through either side of the walls of people… Brendan spotted a single person also walking towards the Pokemon Center, seemingly unaware of the situation around them. They were far away, but… The way the man Brendan was after was moving, he could have sworn he was chasing that person. _And come to think of it, didn't I also see them ahead of us a few blocks back, too?_

With a grunt, Brendan brought himself to his knees and narrowed his eyes even more. _Wait a second… That item on his belt…_ No, it couldn't be, he told himself. But the object poorly tied to the man's waist was undoubtedly a blade of some sort. A dagger, or a machete… But why…

"_He's dangerous. Please follow him – I have to leave."_

The trainer's brows rose to his hairline as he realized why Steven Stone had had him chase this man. _That trainer… Don't tell me he's going to…!_

Beady eyes met Brendan's as the man glanced back over his shoulder. He then dove into a crowd of people so as to escape, one hand on the weapon…

"Mudkip!" Brendan ordered, "go after him! I'll catch up!"

"Kip!" The little Pokemon scurried ahead. Brendan forced himself to his feet, taking a breath and brushing the dirt from his shirt and arms, before rushing into the crowd after them.

After a few moments, there were gasps of surprise and yells from the other people in the square, and then they all began to simultaneously move backwards. _Don't tell me he actually…_ Brendan knew what had happened, and was able to get a view of it just a few moments later. The man had drawn his knife and was closing in on the trainer, who still was unexpectedly walking into the Pokemon Center just a little ways away. Cries of surprise came from the startled people around him.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey! Stop!"

"Police! Police!"

But Brendan, too, was closing in, and Mudkip had already shot out a Mud Slap at the ground around the man, causing him to lose his footing.

"Time for my paycheck!" the boy exclaimed as he took one tremendous leap and tackled the man. The blade went rolling off into the curb of a sidewalk, far from the man's reach. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but Devon Co.'s gonna give me a ton of money if I do, so, sorry!" He said with a sweet grin.

"Geh! Get off me, kid! Don't mess with me!" the man responded, flipping Brendan around so that he was the one pinned to the hot pavement. "I won't let any more scum like you get in my way!"

One bony fist was brought up above the man's shoulder as he readied a punch. Brendan, meanwhile, was aghast. "Huh? Scum? Is that right?! Me, _scum_?!"

The ball of rage came hurtling downwards, but Brendan was faster – and angrier. He jerked forwards, bringing his forehead into a collision with the man's lower jaw. There was a sickening crack, and then the man's fist met the pavement rather than its target. He cried out in pain and backed off, giving the boy the opportunity to squirm out from beneath him.

"_SCUUUUUUM_?!" Brendan taunted as he got to his feet and threw one accusing finger towards his foe. "Hah! See what a Birch can do while they're cornered, you low-life!"

The man, seething and groveling, fled into a nearby alley, leaving a number of curses in his wake. But Brendan was unaffected, and instead crossed his arms proudly. "Heh! You won't get that in a Pokemon Contest, folks!"

The crowd gathered around began clapping, and, much to Brendan's surprise, the news crew from before approached him. He was offered a microphone by a teal-haired woman.

"That was a nice move, trainer! What are your feelings on the incident?"

A brilliant grin appeared on the boy's face. "My feelings? Well, I'll feel great once I get that check in the mail from Devon signed to Brendan Birch in return for scaring off that goon for them! You guys catch my hint?"

There were _oohs_ from the surrounding crowd, and the reporter woman laughed. "Tell us, were you the trainer at the Oceanic Museum last night that stopped Team Aqua?" Her eyes sparkled. The cameraman appeared to be similarly interested in the subject.

Brendan only raised an eyebrow and set his hands on his hips. "What? 'Team Aqua'? No. Why would I go to the museum, anyways? That kind of thing is boring for me."

Promptly, the mic was taken from Brendan's hands, and the reporters walked away, looking crestfallen. He made a questioning look at them before shrugging and heading back to the beach, Mudkip in trail.

* * *

I spent a number of days more in Slateport. The run-in with Team Aqua had opened up a hole of self-doubt inside me, and unfortunately, I had no one to cheer me up and get me back on my feet due to the fact that there was no way I was letting anyone else know about how involved I'd got with the organization. _He's right, _I thought as Archie's words from the encounter echoed through my head. _I'm just some trainer with two gym badges. I beat those grunts, sure, but the boss didn't even _try _to battle me – could he be _that _strong?_

Combusken, on the other hand, was driven for some reason, and was constantly dragging me out to Route 109 to train. Over the time we were in Slateport after the Museum incident, the majority of it was spent at the beach, pinning my Pokemon both against each other, and against other trainers (including some drunk sailor, as well as a girl that didn't know how to swim, so was pretending to do so on the beach.) I even managed to fight my way through some kind of battle-restaurant, but I still wasn't reassured that I would be able to fight off Team Aqua and Archie, even at their worst. It ate away at me. 'C_onsequences'? Why do I feel like I'll still end up running into them again anyways? What _if_ I run into them again?_

"I still don't know if I'll be able to defend myself, if he comes after us, you guys," I mentioned to my Pokemon one day, lounging on a beach chair near the lighthouse, where it was a little less crowded. The busyness of the city had gotten to me. "Or any high-ranked Team Aqua member, to be honest. It sounds like they're a huge organization..."

"_Aron, aron!_" chirped the Steel-type, head-butting the side of my chair and sending me tumbling into the sand.

"Uck!"

My Pokemon laughed to themselves, and I grimaced. _I really need some _actual _friends, don't I…_

As if on cue, my Pokenav began to ring. I jumped up and pulled it from my bag.

The caller ID was, thankfully, not 'Norman'. Instead, it was an unregistered number. I anxiously hit the answer button and held it up to my ear…

"_Hello! Is this May?" _came a familiar voice.

After a short pause, I responded, "Yes. This is…"

"_Roxanne, the Gym Leader of the Rustboro City Gym!"_

"…Oh! That's where I recognize the voice from…" I muttered to myself. "Did you need something?"

"_Well, Brawly had told me that you're rapidly advancing as a trainer! I'd just like to call and let you know that my gym will definitely continue training, so as to challenge you again in the future, May – I'm not yet convinced that I can't beat you."_

"Oh… Brawly?" I scoffed. "Well, okay then…! When that time comes, I'll accept your challenge, Roxanne." My curiosity then got the best of me: "but, is Brawly the one that gave you this number?"

There was silence at the other end, and then, _"Erm, maybe… …Well, I'm looking forward to the battle!"_

I stifled another snicker. "Okay, then, see you."

"_Goodbye…!"_

Mildly entertained and no longer worrying about Team Aqua's presence, I shut the Pokenav and continued laughing to myself at the idea of the huge, athletic Brawly and the petite, studious Roxanne even in the same room together- _wait… How the hell did Brawly_ _even get my number?!_

* * *

The following day, the weather was less forgiving. High winds tore at the beach suites on the shoreline, and the skyscrapers jutting up from the streets around the Pokemon Center almost appeared to be swaying, though that may have just been my imagination. The TVs blared with weather advisories and sheets of rain drummed on the roof above. Sableye and I spent a good amount of time looking out of the bedroom window, watching the roads collect more and more water, before deciding to try something wild.

"Let's go outside," I said with a grin.

If Sableye could make a concerned expression, it would have, but it instead just tilted its head at me.

I patted it playfully. "Come on! I've never seen rain this heavy. Besides, there's no lightning yet, so we should be fine!"

The Pokemon gritted its teeth as it followed me out of the Pokemon Center guest room and into the lobby. I earned a number of raised eyebrows as I neared the doors and took a complementary umbrella off of the coatrack.

"You're not… going out, are you?" asked the nurse incredulously.

I frowned. "Yeah, just for a walk. It's just a little rain."

Sableye shook its head.

The doors zipped open as I approached them, and the sound of the rain became even louder – loud enough that the words of advice Nurse Joy was trying to give me were completely drowned out. My eyes flicked down to Sableye, who crawled up to my shoulders and clung on for its life.

"Alright, let's go!"

* * *

"That was a horrible idea," I thought out loud with a frown.

I took another sad look at the object in my hands that was once an umbrella. After a few minutes, there had been one powerful gust of wind that had bent it only slightly, but enough so that it wouldn't properly shield me from the rain. To make matters worse, there was now thunder and lightning, and it was close by, illuminating the streets and alleys around me like a strobe light. I was also completely lost – the Pokemon Center's red roof and welcoming lights were nowhere to be seen, and the blocks surrounding me were all without power, making them unrecognizable.

I huffed. Thankfully, Sableye had stayed out of its ball and was guiding the way with Flash.

Soaking wet and chilled to the bone, we rounded another few corners before I widened my eyes. It was like a beacon in the night, a light in the darkness, a city in the middle of the desert – it was… it was… the Contest Hall?

I thought back to the brochure I'd skimmed about 'Pokemon Contests' again in my head. Yes, the building was without a doubt the Contest Hall it had mentioned, and with how lit up and populated it was, an event must have been going on…

With nowhere else to go, I scampered towards the building and through the automatic blue doors.

A blast of air conditioning hit me, making me even colder than I already was, but I was too awed by my surroundings to be bothered by it. To call the Contest Hall's interior roomy would be an understatement, and this wasn't even the arena where matches were held. Everything was new and clean, and… pink. People that looked like Pokemon trainers – they had all kinds of Pokemon standing obediently at their side – stood in a long line that snaked back and forth along either side of the lobby. I raised my eyebrows and walked over to the right side of the hall, sitting down in a chair and observing. _Is that the line to get in and see the show? I didn't know it was this popular…_

A man nearby seemed to notice my expression and explained the basics of Contests. They were, I realized, like battles, except you didn't actually _battle _another Pokemon. It was, more or less, showing off your own Pokemon's moves. The people in line were not trainers, but Coordinators – people that specialized in contests like a trainer would in battles. I thought about entering Combusken, but it was then that the man also told me that this was a 'Hyper Contest' hall, and if I wanted to enter, I'd need to go to a lower level one in a place called Verdanturf Town.

Just as he finished speaking, a blaring voice echoed across the lobby: "The first contest starts in 5 minutes! Please take your seats if you are spectating, or stay in line if you are entering for a later contest!"

I blinked and got to my feet. _I should hurry!_

* * *

The inner hall was unbelievably packed. It was like the entire population of Slateport City, tourists included, had been shoved into a single room. I somehow found a seat on the first level near the back that was open, as were the two on either side of it, and collapsed into it. _It's better than being in the rain, at least._

Noticing that I was still dripping wet, I took off my bandana and began wringing it out. _At least the Running Shoes are waterproof._

After a few more minutes, the lights began to dim and the chatter of the crowed died down some. I watched the stage in anticipation. The floor was similar to a battle stadium, like one you'd see in a Pokemon Gym, but was marked differently and was much more elegant. All around it were pink curtains and other decorations. I wondered if they'd use them in the show or not. At the far end of the floor was a desk where an old man I assumed was the judge was now getting situated at.

A spotlight then beamed down at the side closer to me, and four figures appeared out from the shadows, all in line. Cheers erupted from the audience around me, and I flinched. _Loud!_

The voice of the announcer came on again: "Please welcome our first four contestants! Jeremy, Alicia, Hina, Thomas, we hope you're ready to give us a show!" _Louder!_

The four bowed. The Pokemon standing next to them were all unfamiliar to me, and unfortunately, they were out of the Pokedex's range. The announcer began reading them off – Gulpin, Swellow, Zangoose, and Beautifly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two men approaching my row, and I gulped. They bickered a little on the stairs before turning and sitting down in the two seats next to me. Yes, they were quite interesting. The one on my right was wearing a plain black baseball cap and huge sunglasses, along with jeans and a sweatshirt. His hair was an unusual, bright teal color. On the other side was a man holding a completely different air – his hair was gelled and styled, and he was older, sporting a small moustache on his upper lip. A huge cravat hung off of his neck and he wore a lengthy, designer trench coat that made shivering little me a bit jealous. _Is this guy… his dad? No, maybe a relative?_

I kept my eyes trained on the stadium as the contestants began performing, but distraction came easily. The two men would not stop talking!

"These seats are horrible. I can't see a thing," the first one began. His voice was deeper than expected, but also hushed.

"Hush. Watch the trainer with the Swellow. You could learn a thing or two from him."

Silence.

"That was a bad move. Now his Pokemon won't be able to do anything next turn," muttered the younger one again, softly. "This contest is over. Let's go wait it out until the next one, sir."

"No. We will stay."

He sighed.

The contest slowly moved onwards, and I had no way of figuring out who was in the lead except from the man's narration. Some of the moves the trainers did were exciting, but I certainly didn't get the same thrill watching them twirl around as I did watching a battle.

The air conditioning came back on, at one point, and I realized then why no one had picked this seat – it was right below a vent. I had to fight to keep my teeth from chattering, and meanwhile, a group of young men who seemed to have only come to the contest to make fun of how girly it was had squeezed in in the row behind us. They began loudly chomping on popcorn and chuckling.

Minutes passed and the group still did not quiet down. The two sitting next to me had gone silent, too, shifting in their seats as though they wanted to act but couldn't.

So I took it upon myself.

Placing one hand on the chair's armrest, I took in a breath, put on the most threatening expression I could muster, and turned around. The man next to me raised a curious eyebrow.

The group of men, now that I got a good look at them, was by no means intimidating. They all wore big, jagged grins on their faces, and must have had just a few years on me. One of them began nudging his friends as he noticed my glare.

"Hey, could you please quiet do-"

_Pop! Fwshh….._

Water – no, it wasn't water, obviously it wasn't, it _stunk_ – went running down my face and neck and onto the chair. It was soda, or beer, or something in that category. I brought my hands to my face and began rubbing my eyes as laughter erupted in front of me.

"Hahaha! What, so you can watch your Pokemon dances?"

"Just turn your little head around, and ignore us, alright?"

My blood boiled. The nerve of them! Ignoring the sting as I reopened my eyes, I grabbed Combusken's Pokeball. _We'll see who's laughing when I break all of your jaws!_ I flicked my finger over the button in the center of the device and in an explosion of light, the equally enraged Pokemon materialized in front of me in a fighting stance…

* * *

...A sigh escaped from my lips as I plopped down in a couch in the Slateport Contest Hall's now empty lobby. I'd gotten most of the drink off of my face in the bathroom, but my hair and shirt still stunk and I'd done it at the cost of getting my clothes wet again. Outside, the storm was raging on, preventing me from going back to the Pokemon Center. I sighed and rested my chin in my hand as I stared out the window. The security guard that'd pulled me out of the auditorium stood at the entrance now, leering in my direction.

_I guess I should get going soon. I've been so unmotivated to challenge the next gym, but that's only because…_ My eyes flicked over to Sableye, who was sprawled out on the couch, one claw lazily scratching its belly.

_"Yes, we've just received report that the man has been bailed out by an anonymous accomplice."_

"_Really? Could they also be a member of Team Aqua?"_

I straightened. _What was that…? The… television? _There were two on either side of the lobby, mounted on the walls – one was playing the final footage of the contest going on, while the other was on Slateport's local news station. The voices belonged to two news anchors, both with easy looks on their faces. I turned towards the screen and stood up. _Aqua? Arrested?_

"_Well, that _is _a bit of a leap, but you know, we _have _been getting a number of witness reports stating that the man was wearing a banana _awfully _similar to the ones worn by your every day Aqua Joe. What could this mean?"_

"_I'm not sure, but he could just be a leftover from the big event in the Museum the other day."_

"_By the way, is this, by any chance, _related _to that?"_

"_We just can't say. The fact that it might have been a Team Aqua member says so, but the footage provided by Ty and Gabby says otherwise."_

The screen switched from the news office to a chaotic scene in downtown Slateport. The camera quickly came into focus, and I froze.

_That's… Brendan?_ I leaned forward. A young man was rushing towards the Pokemon Center. _That's definitely Brendan. Then… that man that he's chasing…_ The camera was shaking some, and I heard the reporter say something about difficulty following the chase, but it was unmistakably an Aqua member that Brendan was hurrying after. A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead. From what the anchor was saying and what I heard on the footage, Brendan had caught up with the man, and, with the help of Mudkip, tackled him and scared him off.

I sat back down on the couch, sinking into the obnoxious, pink leather with a sigh. _What does this mean? Is Brendan a part of this, too?_ My heart lifted in excitement, and I fumbled around in my pocket for my Pokenav. _Does that mean I can talk to him about this? About Aqua? Does he know more about them? Maybe… if we could just team up, I might have a better chance against Archie…!_

I highlighted Brendan's name, holding my finger above the send button, sweating, when suddenly something in the blabber on the television caught my attention.

"Tell us, were you the trainer at the Oceanic Museum last night that stopped Team Aqua?"

Brendan raised his eyebrows, and I did, too. _The Museum…? They're… They're talking about me…! _Then he spoke. _"What? 'Team Aqua'? No. Why would I go to the museum, anyways? That kind of thing is boring for me."_

My hopes were crushed. _The way he said it – the way he looked… He definitely… doesn't know anything about it, does he…_ The news program cut back to the anchors once again discussing their conspiracy theories, or defending Team Aqua, or whatever else. I tuned out, absently playing with the Pokenav. I'd noticed that I had a single missed call earlier in the week, but had ignored it and then forgot. The little notification box sitting in the corner of the Pokenav's display reminded me of it, and I clicked around a little until the phone number showed up.

_Huh?_ I shifted. _Wait…_

Steven Stone_ was the name of the contact whose call I'd missed…?_ There were two others, since I first got the Pokenav, one from Norman and one from Brendan, though the dates on them were back around the time that I first arrived at Slateport from Mr. Briney's boat. Steven's call, however, was recent, but the time… _Three o'clock in the morning? What does he think I am, nocturnal…?_ I shifted again, anxiously. _Why did he call, anyway? He didn't leave a message. Was it just about the Devon Goods?_

"_Anyways, I heard the Aqua man was arrested for attempting assault. What was that all about?"_

"_It's all foggy. Just like that Team Aqua! We know he was carrying a weapon, though, and that he was after someone, or some_thing_. He started waving it around before that boy tackled him."_

My thoughts moved from the Pokenav back to the news program. _Arrested, huh…?_ I thought. _Maybe that will ruin their reputation a little, then… E-either way, it's not my problem anymore. It's the news people's problem, it's Brendan's problem, it's the cops' problem, it's Steven's problem… Wait a second…_ I widened my eyes and dove into thought once again. _That place… I know that place._

Eyes flicking back to the television display, I focused. They were showing a clip of the chase in slow motion, focusing on the man and talking about this or that. But I was interested in the picture itself. It seemed to be… Downtown Slateport, as I'd first assumed. Specifically, the big intersection where the Pokemon Center was. But, the date… _I was definitely at the beach that day. There's no way he was going after me._

The screen cut off, switching to an interview with two girls on Route 109. I half-listened, stopping when they mentioned that the chase had apparently started on the shoreline.

"…_Yeah, he just took off after this other guy, the one with the bandana. It was, like, three PM, or something."_

_Three?_ I flicked through my Pokenav again. _My call with Roxanne was at one. But… I didn't leave until…_

"_There were a lot of people leaving then, so no, we didn't really, like, see if he was following anyone."_

"_I see!"_

I stood up, all of the sudden, eyes wide. Sableye paused and gave me a curious look.

"We're going," I said, picking it up and running out into the rain.

* * *

I burst through the door of the Pokemon Center, breathing heavily, and marched up to the front desk.

"Oh! May, is there something you need…" asked the nurse, looking up from her magazine. "Oh, my! You actually-"

"I… took a taxi back here…" I managed, meeting her gaze. "I was wondering if you knew what time I checked in the other day. Thursday, I think it was… In the afternoon?"

"Sure! I'll just check the records on the machine here, with the Pokemon you had – a Combusken, was it? – and…"

The woman tinkered around with the basic healing machine for a moment before nodding and turning back over to me with a sweet smile. "Yup, that's it! Three-fifteen in the afternoon."

Everything seemed to stop. Everything except the radio playing on Nurse Joy's desk. The voice of the news anchor was perfectly clear in my ears, above the pattering of the rain and the rumbling of thunder and the voices coming from the other rooms – _"The footage itself was taken at exactly three-thirteen in the afternoon, so the time those girls on the beach gave would match up perfectly, given that it might take a little longer than that to get into the center of downtown Slateport by foot. The man must have taken the quickest path there from-"_

"Hm? May? May, are you alright?"

The nurse's voice drifted into my mind.

"…Yes. I'm fine. Thank you, ma'am."

* * *

I quietly shut the door behind me and slumped into the bed. Outside, the storm had only worsened. After a few moments of staring at the window I shot upwards and brought the blinds down as fast as possible. My head was spinning. _If it's true that that Aqua guy was following me, then that means… The knife… he-he was trying to… But there's no way. I didn't- that couldn't have been Archie, Archie was wearing a black suit- and… and now… _I glanced at the window once again. _And now whoever that was is still out there. They bailed him out. As easy as that. They'll probably cover up the fact that it was Team Aqua, too… _I bit my lip, setting one hand on my forehead. _What do I do…?_

A strange noise came from the door, and I jerked to the right in surprise. There was a small figure, and then two gleaming eyes, and I relaxed realizing that it was only Sableye, with my bag in trail. I smiled and sat up.

"Thanks, Sableye…"

* * *

**A/N: **So yeah, this one _really_ goes out of the way, which is why it took so long for me to finish. But Slateport is exciting so I wanted to find a way to explore it in the fic without it getting too boring… Also, to make up for Amber (the Admin) not showing up in the Museum scene. I was debating whether or not I should just remove the whole thing with Brendan and Steven and Aqua altogether, but I think it helps add a little pressure, and in the end, it won't affect/change the main plot very much (especially since the admin was a manga-only character and the other two admins are actually in the game). Plus Brendan is pretty fun to write.

Like I said earlier, Aqua's scenes will deviate a little more from the game.

And if anyone didn't catch it, that was just a brief cameo of Wallace and Juan there. I hope Juan is in the remakes, he was pretty cool, and I wouldn't mind Wallace being Champion like he was in Emerald (you'd get to fight endgame Steven anyways in Meteor Falls). Promise I won't go _too_ far out of the way like I did with this chapter for a while, though, and include extra scenes that weren't remotely close to being in the game or anything.

Thanks for reading! Again, the next chapter will definitely be out sooner this time now that I'm done with this one section. And feedback via a review is always appreciated!


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